(Data map) On January 15, Li Keqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, hosted a symposium in Beijing. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Zhen

The year's plan is spring. In order to allow foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises to feel the "Spring Sense" as soon as possible, China has issued another package of support policies.

Officials revealed today that Premier Li Keqiang hosted an executive meeting of the State Council on the 10th to determine new measures to deal with the impact of the epidemic and stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment.

Stabilizing foreign trade: focus on pain points

Why stabilize foreign trade at this time?

On the one hand, affected by the epidemic, China's foreign trade, especially its export situation, is not optimistic.

According to official data, China ’s exports from January to February this year were 2.04 trillion yuan, down 15.9%; imports were down 2.4%; the trade deficit was 42.59 billion yuan, compared with a surplus of 293.48 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Zhao Ping, director of the International Trade Research Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that affected by the epidemic, it is difficult for foreign trade companies to complete existing orders and obtain new orders. The cost of commodity exports has increased, and some foreign trade routes have even been interrupted.

The severity of foreign trade is unprecedented.

Previously, due to the spread of the epidemic globally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced its global economic growth forecast for this year to 2.9%. Against the background of weak external demand, China's foreign trade is expected to face greater challenges in the future, and we need to plan ahead as soon as possible.

On the other hand, the epidemic will affect the industrial chain and supply chain through foreign trade. Intensifying efforts to stabilize foreign trade is also necessary to maintain China's position in the global industrial chain and supply chain.

Bai Ming, director of the International Market Research Institute of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, said that if Chinese foreign trade enterprises cannot resume normal production and operation as soon as possible, foreign customers may find other partners, which is not good for the long-term development of China's foreign trade and for China. Industrial chain and supply chain security are also unfavorable.

In the past few days, a series of measures to stabilize foreign trade have been intensified, from helping companies to develop force majeure factual evidence, to increasing trade financing support, expanding foreign trade credit, and ensuring that all companies with markets and orders have their loans on demand.

The executive meeting of the State Council sent a larger policy "red envelope" to foreign trade companies: for example, timely and full tax refunds for all export products that have not been fully refunded except for "two highs and one investment"; policies such as deferred loan repayment and interest payment have been implemented Small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises that have been affected by the epidemic and have good prospects can negotiate for an extension; support commercial insurance companies to develop short-term export credit insurance business and reduce their rates; do a good job of preparing for the Spring Canton Fair.

The meeting also specifically proposed that financial institutions should be guided to actively connect with core companies in the industry chain, increase liquidity loan support, and give reasonable credit lines. Support core companies to pay cash to upstream and downstream companies in the form of advance payments after financing through credit, bonds, etc., and reduce the cash flow pressure and financing costs of upstream and downstream SMEs.

For foreign trade companies suffering from financial constraints, difficulties in fulfilling contracts, and difficulty in receiving orders, these measures will undoubtedly hit their pain points in production and operation, which will help reduce the burden on enterprises and enter the battlefield lightly.

Stabilizing foreign investment: combining long and short

It is also time to stabilize foreign investment.

The impact of the epidemic on China's absorption of foreign capital has begun to appear. According to official data, China ’s actual use of foreign investment in January this year increased by 4% year-on-year, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points from the same period last year.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, Zong Changqing frankly said that the epidemic situation has caused investors to wait and see aggravating mentality, which has put pressure on China ’s investment attraction this year. Month, March and even the first quarter will be more obvious.

China National Express has learned in interviews that the main problems encountered in the process of resuming production and operation of foreign companies in China are as follows: First, the resumption and resumption policies of different regions are different, and the progress of resumption and resumption of production in various links in the industrial chain is different. Supply and product logistics caused problems; the second was the difficulty in purchasing epidemic prevention materials such as masks.

In response to this, the State Council executive meeting made it clear that, while implementing precise prevention and control in different regions and regions, it was necessary to orderly promote the resumption of production and production across the entire industry chain. It is necessary to strengthen overall guidance and coordination of services, and to open up the blocking points of the industrial chain and supply chain. Leading enterprises will be used to drive supporting enterprises to enhance the momentum of coordinated resumption of production and production.

The meeting also proposed that we should step up efforts to further reduce the negative list of foreign investment access. Expand the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment, so that foreign investment in more areas can enjoy preferential policies such as taxation.

If it is said that opening up the industrial chain and supply chain is an urgent need to resolve foreign companies' short-term problems, then to continue to expand market access and improve the business environment is to take a long-term view and fundamentally "settle the mind" for enterprises. With the combination of long and short term, stabilizing foreign investment will receive better results, and China's attractiveness to global investors is expected to continue to increase.

Under a series of measures to stabilize foreign investment, many foreign companies have expressed optimism about the prospects of the Chinese market, and their confidence and strategy in investing in China have not changed.

Song Weiqun, chairman of Johnson & Johnson's China region, said that the Chinese government's service measures and support policies for foreign companies have strongly supported the company's confidence in restoring operations and production and stable development. "The epidemic will not change the good development prospects of the Chinese market, and Johnson & Johnson will further increase investment in China in the future."

Zhao Jinping, former director of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council of China, said that with the precise implementation of the policy of stabilizing foreign investment, China's foreign investment absorption is still expected to grow moderately this year.

Li Xiaoyu