[Explanation] On March 13th, the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism held a press conference in Beijing to introduce the work to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment in response to the impact of the epidemic.
[Explanation] Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, since 2020, China's foreign trade production enterprises have resumed work later than in previous years, coupled with factors such as poor logistics and transportation, and the order compliance rate has declined. Statistics show that from January to February, China's total foreign trade import and export volume was 4.12 trillion yuan, a decrease of 9.6% compared with the same period in 2019.
[Explanation] Speaking of the development trend of China's foreign trade in 2020, Li Xinggan, director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the internal and external forms of foreign trade development are extremely complex and uncertain, and uncertain factors have been increasing.
[Contemporary] Li Xinggan, Director General, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce
From an international perspective, the epidemic is spreading globally, and confirmed cases have appeared in 120 countries and regions. The WHO believes that the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation has shown pandemic characteristics, and the downward pressure on the global economy has increased significantly. Domestically, insufficient demand will also increase import pressure. In February, the manufacturing PMI was only 35.7%, which was a record low.
[Explanation] At the same time, Li Xinggan pointed out that China's foreign trade has great potential and sufficient resilience. The long-term trend of foreign trade development has not changed, and China is fully confident to stabilize the basic foreign trade.
[Contemporary] Li Xinggan, Director General, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce
China's foreign trade has great potential, strong resilience, strong competitiveness, and a stable industrial chain. The company's innovative consciousness and market development ability are very strong. The long-term trend of foreign trade development has not changed, and it is completely confident to stabilize the basic foreign trade.
[Explanation] Li Xinggan introduced that in order to stabilize the basic foreign trade, especially to solve the prominent problems and demands of small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises, such as rising costs and tight capital chains, the State Council has recently introduced policies and measures to respond.
[Contemporary] Li Xinggan, Director General, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce
It mainly includes three aspects. One is to make full use of the export tax rebate policy. All export products that have not been fully refunded except the "two highs and one capital" will be refunded in full and on time. The second is to expand the export credit. Guide financial institutions to increase foreign investment credit and implement policies related to loan deferred repayment. For small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises that have been affected by the epidemic and have good prospects, they can negotiate for an extension. Third, make good use of export credit insurance.
[Explanation] Li Xinggan said that the Ministry of Commerce is working with various localities and departments to improve the detailed division of labor plan, and to introduce supporting policies to ensure that policies and measures are implemented quickly, so that foreign trade enterprises can enjoy policy dividends as soon as possible.
Reporter Liu Chao reports from Beijing
Editor-in-chief: [Li Yuxin]