Chinanews.com, March 2 (Zuo Yuqing, Zhongxin Finance and Economics) my country has given priority to restoring and expanding consumption this year.

At present, how is the recovery of the consumer market?

What kind of trend will foreign capital and foreign trade show this year?

　　On the 2nd, at the press conference on the series of "Authoritative Departments Talking about the Opening" series of press conferences held by the State Council Information Office, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao introduced the situation of "firm confidence, work hard, and promote high-quality business development to take new steps" and answered the reporter asked.

Yongzhou Liuzi Street attracts many young people to check in.

Photo by Tao Xuri

Consumption

——The momentum of market recovery is obvious, and a series of activities of "Consumption Boost Year" will be carried out

　　Wang Wentao said that since the beginning of this year, the entire consumer market has been gradually recovering, and the momentum of recovery is relatively obvious.

The monitoring of the business big data platform shows that during the Spring Festival this year, the passenger flow of key business districts in 36 large and medium-sized cities across the country increased by 27.8% compared with the same period of the previous year in the lunar calendar. up 6.8%.

　　On the basis of stabilizing key consumption and innovating and developing new types of consumption, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on restoring and expanding consumption in three aspects: First, launch a series of "Consumption Boosting Year" activities to enhance consumer confidence and vitality.

The second is to stabilize and increase key consumption and consolidate the consumption base.

The third is to promote the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities and innovate carrier scenarios.

　　Wang Wentao said that the Ministry of Commerce has designated this year as the "Consumption Boost Year", and will work with relevant departments to mobilize various localities, industry associations, and enterprise organizations to carry out a series of consumption promotion activities to create a strong consumption atmosphere of "joyful enjoyment of all people throughout the year". , Enhance consumer confidence and vitality.

　　The Ministry of Commerce will also make up for the shortcomings of county-level commercial development, focus on channel sinking as the main line, promote the further recovery and expansion of rural consumption, and better help rural revitalization; carry out a three-year campaign to build a "15-minute convenient living circle" nationwide, By 2025, all cities above the prefecture level that have the conditions will take action to create various forms of a quarter-hour convenient living circle to meet the basic needs of ordinary people in their daily lives.

President of L'Oreal North Asia and China CEO Fabril said investing in China is a "beautiful journey", and L'Oreal will continue this journey.

Photo by Zhou Sunyu

foreign investment

——Continue to maintain the growth trend and show the gold-lettered signboard of "Investing in China"

　　"Recently, my colleagues and I met with many executives of foreign companies for exchanges." Wang Wentao said that we felt during the exchanges that many executives of foreign companies are still optimistic about China's economic development prospects and are willing to continue to increase investment in China and deepen their cultivation. In the Chinese market, some companies say that "the Chinese market is not an option, but a must". After hearing this, we appreciate and welcome it.

　　Last year, my country's actual use of foreign capital was 1.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%.

Since the beginning of this year, it has continued to maintain a growth trend. In January, the actual use of foreign capital was 127.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%.

　　Efforts should be made to retain high-quality existing foreign capital and bring in more high-quality foreign capital.

The Ministry of Commerce will hold the "Invest in China Year" series of activities for the first time this year, coordinating the resources of all parties, and working with local governments to promote the normalization, serialization and diversification of investment promotion.

　　"These activities have two main aspects: 'please come in' and 'go out'. The core is to build platforms, unblock channels, showcase investment opportunities in various parts of the country, and show the gold-lettered signboard of 'invest in China'." Wang Wentao said.

　　In addition, the Ministry of Commerce will also provide targeted services for foreign-funded enterprises; study and promote the rational reduction of the negative list of foreign investment access, further cancel or relax restrictions on foreign investment access; optimize the foreign investment environment, and implement high-standard national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises.

Data map: Ningbo Zhoushan Port Container Terminal.

Photo by Zhang Yin

foreign trade

——The pressure has increased significantly, and efforts have been made to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure

　　In 2022, China's foreign trade will hit a new high, and the scale of import and export of goods will exceed the 40 trillion yuan mark for the first time, and it will continue to maintain its position as the largest country in goods trade.

In the face of the current external environment where the risk of world economic recession is rising and the growth of foreign demand is slowing down, what is the situation of my country's foreign trade in 2023?

　　Wang Wentao said that the World Trade Organization predicts that global trade in goods will only grow by 1% this year, a slowdown of about 2.5 percentage points from 2022.

"In other words, it is less likely that the global foreign trade 'cake' will grow bigger this year."

　　In this regard, Wang Wentao said that the pressure on foreign trade has increased significantly this year, mainly due to the weakening of external demand.

Efforts will be made to "upgrade trade in goods, innovate in trade in services, and develop digital trade", maintain the basic scale of scale, optimize the structure of foreign trade, and enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade.

　　Wang Shouwen, International Trade Negotiator and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the circle of friends in China's free trade zone is constantly expanding, and there are currently 26 free trade partners.

"It can be said that we have initially established a network of free trade agreements based on the surrounding area, radiating the "Belt and Road" and facing the world."

　　He said that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will increase the comprehensive utilization rate of existing free trade agreements, and comprehensively promote the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 negotiations this year, continue to promote the process of joining CPTPP and DEPA, and continue to promote at the APEC level Construction of the Free Trade Area of ​​the Asia-Pacific.

　　Regarding the future development trend of Sino-US economic and trade relations, Wang Shouwen said that according to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade between China and the United States will reach more than 750 billion US dollars in 2022, which fully demonstrates that the economic and trade relations between China and the United States are highly complementary and resilient.

　　He pointed out that the bilateral economic and trade relations between China and the United States have huge potential and strong complementarity in the future, and the mutually beneficial and win-win nature of bilateral economic and trade cooperation should be fully utilized.

"This year the United States is the host of the series of APEC meetings. China and the United States can use this as an opportunity to carry out dialogue through bilateral, regional and multilateral channels to promote the resolution of their respective concerns in the economic and trade field." (End)