China, with vigorous vitality, strong resilience and great potential, is confident and capable of achieving the goal of "stable quality and quantity increase" in foreign trade this year.
CCTV News:The State Council Press Office held a press conference on April 19th. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce said that it would work with relevant departments to promote digital upgrading in trade-related links, including improving customs clearance efficiency and providing more and more convenient financing support for foreign trade enterprises.
In the field of trade digitalization, the Ministry of Commerce has guided more trade entities to use electronic trade documents and promoted the interconnection between document platform enterprises. Accelerate the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area global trade digital pilot area, and explore the docking of digital infrastructure and rules and standards, so as to accelerate the digital integration development of the whole trade chain. Cultivate leading enterprises in digital transformation, and also provide digital solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Li xinggan, director of the foreign trade department of the Ministry of commerce, said: "relying on multi-bilateral platforms, we will strengthen trade digital cooperation with our trading partners and jointly explore more landing scenarios in the trade field."
Ministry of Commerce: It is normal for data fluctuation to attract foreign investment.
Since last year, there have been some fluctuations in China’s data on attracting foreign investment. At the press conference on April 19th, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce said that from the overall situation of global transnational investment and the situation of various economies, fluctuations in data on attracting foreign investment are normal.
In the first quarter of this year, the scale of attracting foreign investment in China exceeded 300 billion yuan. In the same period last year, the scale of attracting foreign investment in China reached the highest level in the history of quarterly investment, and it declined in the first quarter of this year. There are indeed factors affected by the high base. In addition, in the first quarter of this year, the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises in China reached 12,000, a year-on-year increase of 20.7%, continuing the trend of rapid growth of newly established enterprises since last year.
Ji Xiaofeng, head of the Foreign Investment Management Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that there is usually a process for foreign investment from project signing, company registration to completion and production. In this process, foreign capital will continue to be invested with the progress of project construction, so data fluctuations are also common.
Ministry of Commerce: China’s investment structure continued to be optimized in the first quarter of this year.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, in the first quarter of this year, the actual use of foreign capital in China’s manufacturing industry reached 81.06 billion yuan, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing industry reached 37.76 billion yuan, accounting for 2.3 and 2.2 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year, and the investment in medical equipment manufacturing industry increased by 169.7% year-on-year, which fully demonstrated the continuous optimization of China’s investment structure.
At the same time, the person in charge also said that a comprehensive analysis of the situation of attracting foreign investment in China should not only look at the changes in the scale of attracting foreign investment, but also see the optimization of the structure of attracting foreign investment and its future development prospects.
Ministry of Commerce: China deepens national economic and trade cooperation with the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce introduced that since the beginning of this year, China has continuously deepened its economic and trade cooperation with the "Belt and Road" countries and achieved some new progress and new results.
In the first quarter, the import and export of goods between China and co-construction countries exceeded 4.8 trillion yuan, up 5.5%, 0.5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade, accounting for 47.4% of the total import and export.
From the perspective of export commodities, there are high-tech products such as electronic information, instruments and equipment manufacturing, which are closely related to the production of enterprises, as well as consumer goods such as household appliances and clothing that meet the needs of people’s livelihood.
From the perspective of imported goods, China and the co-construction countries actively share the opportunity of China’s big market. In the first quarter, the energy and mineral products, integrated circuits, auto parts and other industrial products imported from the co-construction countries continued to grow.
In the first quarter, China’s non-financial direct investment in co-construction countries reached 54.32 billion yuan, up 12%, accounting for 22.4% of the total foreign investment in the same period. From the perspective of investment, investment in RCEP member countries increased by 33.5%, and investment in Central and Eastern European countries increased by 41.3%, both of which were significantly higher than the overall growth rate.
Yang Tao, director of the Comprehensive Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in terms of exhibition platform, the just-concluded 4th Consumer Expo and the first phase of the 135th Canton Fair attracted a large number of merchants from countries with the Belt and Road Initiative, and the number of buyers from countries with the Belt and Road Initiative participating in the Canton Fair increased by 46%. In the import sector of the Canton Fair, the proportion of exhibitors from countries with the Belt and Road Initiative reached 64%.
Ministry of Commerce: I am confident to achieve the goal of "stable quality and quantity increase" in foreign trade this year.
At the press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce introduced that looking forward to the next stage of foreign trade situation, there are both opportunities and challenges in general. The Ministry of Commerce is working with all localities and departments to study and launch a series of targeted, pragmatic and effective measures to stabilize foreign trade.
The opportunity is that the domestic economy is picking up and the foundation is constantly consolidating. In the first quarter, the national economy grew by 5.3%, and the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.1%, which provided a solid foundation for China to consolidate its foreign trade base.
The company’s expectations continue to improve and its confidence continues to increase. In March, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China’s manufacturing industry reached 50.8%, returning to the expansion range. Recently, a questionnaire survey was conducted among more than 20,000 exhibitors in the Canton Fair. The survey results show that the proportion of enterprises whose orders have increased or remained flat has reached 81.5%, an increase of 16.8 percentage points over the previous session. Enterprises are relatively optimistic about the order situation and are more enthusiastic about exploring the international market.
Key industries have stabilized and improved, and their motivation has been continuously enhanced. After a two-year down cycle, the trade of main products in the electronic information industry is gradually recovering. In the first quarter, China’s integrated circuits increased by 24.2%, imports increased by 14.3%, and exports of computers and parts increased by 8.6%, which also showed the ability of supporting and integrating China’s industries.
From the perspective of challenges, the growth of external demand is expected to slow down. Recently, the WTO released a global trade outlook and statistical report, in which the growth rate of goods trade in 2024 was lowered to 2.6%, which was 0.7 percentage points lower than the forecast value in October last year. In addition, the risk of geopolitical conflict has increased, the momentum of trade protectionism has risen, and the interference and difficulty faced by enterprises in opening up markets have increased.
Guo Tingting, Vice Minister of Commerce, said that at present, the Ministry of Commerce, together with various localities and departments, is working hard to study and launch a series of targeted, pragmatic and effective measures to stabilize foreign trade to help foreign trade enterprises enhance their motivation and open up markets. The Ministry of Commerce is confident and capable of achieving the goal of "stable quality and quantity increase" in foreign trade this year.
Ten departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, jointly issued the Measures to further support overseas institutions to invest in domestic science and technology enterprises.
The reporter learned from the Ministry of Commerce on April 19th that the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission and other ten departments have recently jointly issued policies and measures to further support overseas institutions to invest in domestic science and technology enterprises.
Clear policies and measures to support overseas institutions to invest in domestic science and technology enterprises through qualified overseas limited partners. It is clear that the establishment of venture capital funds in China by overseas institutions is treated equally with domestic venture capital funds. Encourage overseas institutions to cooperate with relevant domestic institutions to set up relevant funds, and support technology-based enterprises invested by overseas institutions to deepen industrial chain cooperation with relevant countries. According to the tax treaties signed between China and relevant countries, qualified overseas institutions can enjoy preferential income tax when investing in listed companies in China.
Ministry of Commerce: Three areas of innovation are full of vitality and have sustainable growth potential.
On April 19th, the State Council Press Office held a press conference, and the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce introduced that in recent years, China’s export structure has been optimized and upgraded. In the first quarter of this year, three areas were full of innovation vitality and had potential for sustained growth: first, the export base of complete sets of equipment was solid; second, the export demand of smart products increased; and third, low-carbon energy-saving and environmental protection products were very popular.
Ministry of Commerce: New export growth points will continue to emerge.
In addition, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce also introduced that in the first quarter of this year, the export of China’s labor-intensive products increased by 9.1%. Among them, the export of textiles and clothing increased by 5.4%, the export of plastic products increased by 14%, and the export of furniture and its parts increased by 23.5%. At present, China manufacturing is moving towards China creation. New export growth points will continue to emerge, and the Ministry of Commerce is confident to achieve the goal of "stable quality and quantity increase" in foreign trade this year.