Ministry of Commerce: Take advantage of China's ultra-large-scale market to stabilize the global trade supply chain

　　China News Service, February 2nd. On the 2nd, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on business work and operations in 2022. Li Xingqian, director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, answered reporters' questions and said that in general, China's foreign trade in 2022 will have three major A wonderful performance is to stand on a new height, release new kinetic energy, and make new contributions.

　　Regarding the new height, China's import and export scale will hit a record high in 2022, reaching 42 trillion yuan, breaking through the 40 trillion yuan mark.

In U.S. dollars, it reached 6.3 trillion U.S. dollars, which is a new breakthrough achieved on the ultra-high base in 2021.

China has maintained its position as the largest country in trade in goods for six consecutive years.

While the scale is growing reasonably, the structure is also continuously optimized. The proportion of imports and exports of private enterprises has increased, of which the proportion of exports has increased by 3.2 percentage points, reaching 60.8%.

Multilateral and bilateral economic and trade cooperation has also made positive progress. Exports to RCEP trading partners increased by 17.5% year-on-year, 7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

The proportion of imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” reached 32.9%, a further increase of 3.2 percentage points from 2021.

　　Regarding new kinetic energy, last year, represented by the "new three" of electricity, light, and lithium, that is, the export of electric vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries. Our country's high-tech, high value-added products that lead green transformation Become a new growth point of export.

In 2022, exports of electric vehicles will increase by 131.8%, photovoltaic products by 67.8%, and lithium batteries by 86.7%.

At the same time, new forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade methods are also booming. The import and export scale exceeds 3 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 7% of foreign trade.

　　Regarding new contributions, from a domestic perspective, foreign trade has made an important contribution to promoting the overall recovery of economic operation. The contribution rate of net exports of goods and services to GDP growth for the year reached 17.1%, driving GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points.

There are 598,000 foreign trade companies with import and export performance throughout the year, an increase of 31,000 compared with 2021, which will effectively promote the stability of employment in my country.

From an international perspective, against the background of the turbulent global economic and trade environment, China has taken effective measures to stabilize production and exports, ensuring the smooth operation of the global industrial and supply chains.

At the same time, we have actively expanded imports, and the annual import scale reached 2.71 trillion US dollars, making China's contribution to global economic and trade development.

　　Li Xingqian said that at present, the risk of world economic recession is rising, the growth of external demand has slowed down significantly, and the international supply chain structure is also accelerating the reconstruction. The environment for the development of foreign trade is extremely severe.

In 2023, the Ministry of Commerce will make greater efforts to promote the stable scale and optimal structure of foreign trade, and stabilize the supporting role of exports in the national economy.

Put respect and stimulate the creativity of trade entities in a prominent position. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, through the revision of the "Foreign Trade Law", the registration of foreign trade operators has been cancelled. The essence is to give all market entities the right to operate foreign trade. This is a major reform measure in the field of foreign trade management by the Ministry of Commerce.

　　Li Xingqian made it clear that to promote high-level opening up, it is necessary to make foreign trade easier, more convenient, and more rewarding.

Therefore, in the new year, the Ministry of Commerce must carefully serve the main body of foreign trade enterprises, optimize and introduce new trade policies, help enterprises reduce costs, increase efficiency, solve problems, and continue to improve the comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade.

The focus is to implement four measures: First, strengthen trade promotion.

Closely connect with suppliers and buyers to stabilize export trade.

It is necessary to fully resume offline exhibitions of a series of domestic export exhibitions such as the Canton Fair.

At the same time, fully support foreign trade enterprises to participate in various overseas professional exhibitions, so as to create more trade opportunities.

The second is to expand imports reasonably.

The Ministry of Commerce should closely cooperate with trading partners, give full play to the advantages of China's super-large-scale market, and expand the import of high-quality products from various countries, so as to stabilize the global trade supply chain.

The third is to deepen trade innovation.

Promote the continuous, rapid and healthy development of new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses.

The fourth is to stabilize the industrial base of foreign trade.

It is necessary to continue to optimize the industrial structure of foreign trade. While strengthening general trade, support the gradual transfer of processing trade to the central, western and northeastern regions for upgrading and development.

(China New Finance and Economics)