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The Ministry of Commerce: China's foreign trade grew by 3.5% in the first seven months of this year, with both volume and quality improving
On August 21, He Yongqian, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular press conference that since the beginning of this year, the risks and challenges faced by international economic and trade development have significantly increased. Against such a complex backdrop, China's foreign trade has maintained a stable and progressive trend, with the cumulative growth rate of imports and exports rising month by month. In the first seven months, it achieved a growth of 3.5%, with both quantity and quality improving, which is no easy feat. Overall, there are multiple factors supporting it.
The policies are forceful. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with relevant departments, has thoroughly implemented the decisions and plans of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and The State Council, and introduced multiple rounds of policies to stabilize foreign trade. It has continuously strengthened policy guarantees in areas such as fostering new drivers of foreign trade, enhancing public services, and helping foreign trade enterprises stabilize orders and employment. All departments and localities have been working closely together to fully implement and ensure that foreign trade enterprises enjoy all the benefits they are entitled to. Take finance as an example. In the first seven months, China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation underwrote short-term insurance worth 573.5 billion US dollars, representing a year-on-year increase of 14.7%. The Export-Import Bank of China has newly issued over 700 billion yuan in loans to the foreign trade sector.
Cooperation is diverse. The Ministry of Commerce is constantly expanding the space for mutually beneficial cooperation with more trading partners. In the first seven months, China's imports and exports with emerging and other markets increased by 5%, accounting for 65.5%, up by 0.9 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, imports and exports to ASEAN and Africa increased by 9.4% and 17.2% respectively, both significantly higher than the overall figure. Imports and exports with the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 5.5%, and the proportion rose to 51.7%.
Kinetic energy release. The upward and innovative momentum of foreign trade has been further consolidated. In the first seven months, the export of mechanical and electrical products increased by 9.3%, accounting for 60%, up by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year. High-tech and high-value-added products such as smart home appliances, electric vehicles, industrial robots and ships maintained a relatively high export growth rate. A large number of foreign trade enterprises have risen to the challenge, adapted to changes and sought innovation, exploring new markets, developing new products and expanding new channels. In the first seven months, there were 654,000 foreign trade enterprises with actual import and export performance, among which nearly 90% were private enterprises.
He Yongqian said, "At present, global economic and trade development still faces great uncertainties." Multiple international organizations have pointed out that tariff barriers significantly increase global trade costs, seriously affect the efficiency and stability of the global production and supply chain, and global trade still faces downward risks. We will always adhere to expanding high-level opening up to the outside world, unswervingly do our own things well, and respond to all uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development. We are confident and have the strength to continue promoting the stability and quality improvement of foreign trade, and to work with more trading partners to jointly address challenges and share development opportunities.