Dear friends from the media, good morning. The press releases for today's conference are already in your hands, so I will only give you a brief introduction, and sufficient time will be left to your questions.

I. Performance of Domestic Market

The domestic consumer market has basically remained steady since the beginning of the year. Monthly, the growth of consumption has been steady and slowing down recently. The retail sales of consumer goods in October reached 2.4 trillion yuan, up 11.5% year on year, and 10.8% with price factors excluded. Totally, the consumption growth has remained steady. The total retail sales of consumer goods in January-October went up 12% year on year, the same as that of the first half year. While the growth of investment continued to fall, consumption has played the role of a stabilizer in economic growth. Following are the main characteristics of the consumer market in October.

1. Information consumption enjoyed a high-speed growth. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce on 5,000 major retail enterprises, the online shopping in October went up 39.4% year on year, 33.3, 33.6 and 35.4 percentage points higher than that of special stores, supermarkets and department stores respectively. According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, the online sales of units above the designated size in January-October were up 55.6% year on year; retail sales of communication equipment of units above the designated size in October increased 42.3%, 10.9 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year. Related statistics showed that, by the end of October, the number of users of 4G of China Mobile was over 50 million, 36 million more than that of the first half year.

2. Rural consumption grew rapidly. Driven by the growth of rural residents' income, rural consumption in October grew 12.4%, 1 percentage point higher than urban consumption. As an important channel of rural circulation, the sales of goods for everyday consumption by the supply and marketing cooperatives across China in the first nine months reached 801.27 billion yuan, up 22.7% year on year, 9.7 percentage points higher than the national total at the same period.

3. Consumption for culture and tourism continued growing. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce on 5,000 major retail enterprises, sales of cultural and office supplies went up 9.3% year on year, 11.6 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year. According to related statistics, box office in October was up 73% year on year. According to the statistics of the National Tourism Administration, during the long vacation of the National Day, the number of people going on a tour domestically reached 475 million, up 10.9% year on year, and the revenues from tourism grew 15.7%.

4. Catering consumption was steady and picked up. Driven by the growth of dining out during the vacation, catering consumption in October picked up. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, catering revenues in October went up 9.7%, 1 percentage point higher than that of September. Among that, the revenues of units above the designated size turned positive, up 2.1% year on year, 2.6 percentage points higher than that of September.

5. Consumption of housing and transportation slowed down. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce on 5,000 major retail enterprises, sales of household appliances, building materials and furniture were up 9.9%, 8.5% and 4.6% respectively, 0.6, 1.9 and 9.6% percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. According to the statistics of the China Automotive Industry Association, sales of automobile in October were up 2.8% year on year, among which, sales of passenger vehicles went up 6.4% year on year, 17.9 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year, while sales of new energy automobile enjoyed a good momentum with the registration growing rapidly. The output of new energy automobiles in October increased 24 times, and the expectation for the production of enterprises was positive.

6. Consumer prices remained steady. CPI in October was up 1.6%, the same as that of September and 1.6 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, in 36 large and medium-sized cities, prices of agro-foodstuff went down 1.2% year on year, with mutton, pork and vegetable down 1.2%, 6.9% and 9.4% respectively.

II. Foreign Trade

According to Customs figures, China’s total import and export in October reached 2.2664 trillion yuan, up 8.4%. Export was 1.2725 trillion yuan, up 11.5%, and import 993.9 billion yuan, up 4.6%. Trade surplus was 278.7 billion yuan, up 45.2%. In terms of the U.S. dollar, the total import and export reached US$ 368.33 billion, up 8.4% year on year (the same below), among which, export was US$ 206.87 billion, up 11.6%, and import US$ 161.46 billion, up 4.6%; trade surplus was US$ 45.41billion , up 46.3%. In terms of the U.S. dollar, the main characteristics of foreign trade in October are as follows:

1. Export to the Asian-Pacific region grew fast and import from ASEAN, the ROK and the EU kept a rapid growth. In October, exports to Taiwan, Hong Kong, ASEAN, the ROK, New Zealand and the U.S. were up 28%, 24.6%, 18.6%, 13.4%, 10.7% and 10.2% respectively, accounting for 52.5% of the national total. Exports to Russia and the EU were up 7% and 4.8% respectively. Imports from ASEAN, the ROK and the EU kept a fast growth, with the growth rate 25.4%, 12.3% and 10.4% respectively, accounting for 34.5% of the national total.

2. Import and export of processing trade slowed down, and import of general trade was still depressed. In October, exports of processing trade reached US$ 80.4 billion, and imports US$ 50 billion, up 9.2% and 24.2% respectively, 4.5 and 5.7 percentage points slower than that of September. Exports of general trade reached US$ 102.8 billion, up 12.7%, with the growth rate over 10% for four consecutive months; import US$ 85.6 billion, down 3.7%.

3. Decrease of the prices of some of bulk commodities worsened. The import prices of iron ore, crude oil, copper product, copper ore and refined oil were down 35.9%, 11.6%, 3.2%, 2.6% and 1.6% respectively, 4.5, 6.1, 2.6, 3.8 and 0.5 percentage points lower than that of September, making the import growth 3.9 percentage points slower. Imports of mechanical and electrical products reached US$ 72.7 billion and new high-tech products US$ 47.5 billion, up 8.6% and 10.1% respectively, 1.6 and 3.2 percentage points higher than that of September.

4. Export of east China fell and import of central China increased rapidly. In October, exports of east China reached US$ 167.8 billion, up 7.9%, 4.3 percentage points slower than that of last month. Exports of central regions reached US$ 16.4 billion and western regions US$ 22.7 billion, up 32.9% and 28.7% respectively, accounting for 18.9% of the national total, 2.8 percentage points higher than that of last year. In terms of import, in October, imports of central regions reached US$ 11.4 billion, up 5.3%, 0.2 and 6.5 percentage points higher than that of eastern and western regions respectively.

5. Export of private enterprises was higher than that of state-owned and foreign-funded enterprises. In October, exports of private enterprises reached US$ 90.2 billion, up 19.2%, 18 and 12.2 percentage points higher than that of state-owned and foreign-funded enterprises. Exports of state-owned enterprises reached US$ 21.2 billion, and that of foreign-funded enterprises reached US$ 95.4 billion, up 1.2% and 7% respectively. As for import, growth of foreign-funded enterprises sped up, with import reaching US$ 77.7 billion in October, up 9.5%, 0.7 percentage points higher than that of last month.

III. Foreign Investment in China

In January-October, a total of 19,239 foreign-funded enterprises were approved, up 5.8% year on year. In terms of the U.S. dollar, actually utilized FDI in the first 10 months reached US$95.88 billion, down 1.2% year on year (excluding data of banking, securities and insurance). In October, 1,992 foreign-funded enterprises were approved, up 8.7% year on year, with actually utilized investment of 52.62 billion yuan. In terms of the U.S. dollar, actually utilized foreign capital in October was US$ 8.53 billion, up 1.3% year on year. The main characteristics of foreign investment in January-October are as follows:

1. Utilized FDI in the service sector maintained fast growth. In January-October, utilized FDI in the service sector registered US$53.12 billion, up 6.6% year on year, accounting for 55.4% of the national total, of which, utilized FDI in the distribution service industry and transportation service industry took a larger percentage and reached US$6.63 billion and US$3.22 billion respectively. Utilized FDI in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery amounted to US$1.29 billion, down 9.8% year on year, accounting for 1.34% of the national total. Utilized FDI in manufacturing was US$32.52 billion, down 15.1% year on year, accounting for 33.91% of the national total, of which, utilized FDI in electronic equipment manufacturing including telecommunications equipment and computers, transportation equipment manufacturing, and chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing took a larger percentage and reached US$4.88 billion, US$3.39 billion and US$2.40 billion respectively.

2. Investment from major countries and regions maintained steady growth. In January-October, actual FDI in the Chinese mainland from top 10 investors (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the ROK, Japan, the U.S., Germany, the UK, France and the Netherlands) amounted to US$90.35 billion, accounting for 94.2% of the total, up 1.2% year on year. Investment from the ROK and the UK reached US$ 3.29 billion and US$ 1.18 billion respectively, up 26.4% and 32.4% respectively year on year. Investment from Japan and the U.S. reached US$ 3.69 billion and US$ 2.32 billion respectively, down 42.9% and 23.8% respectively year on year. In addition, investment from 28 EU countries and ASEAN reached US$ 5.38 billion and US$5.41 billion, down 16.2% and 15.2% respectively year on year.

3. Utilized FDI in central China enjoyed a good momentum. In January-October, utilized FDI in east China was US$80.31 billion, down 1.4% year on year, utilized FDI in central China was US$9.36 billion, up 9.5% year on year, and utilized FDI in west China was US$6.21 billion, down 12.1% year on year.

IV. China’s Investment and Economic Cooperation Overseas

Direct investment abroad. In January-October, Chinese investors made direct investment in 4,977 businesses in 154 countries and regions, with a combined investment of US$81.88 billion (equivalent to 503.15 billion yuan), up 17.8% year on year. In October alone, non-financial direct investment reached US$6.92 billion (equivalent to 42.52 billion yuan), down 12.2% year on year. By the end of October, China’s non-financial direct investment overseas totaled US$625.3 billion (equivalent to 3.84 trillion yuan).

In January-October, the Chinese mainland’s investment in seven major economies, namely Hong Kong, ASEAN, the EU, Australia, the U.S., Russia and Japan, reached US$60.82 billion, taking up 74.2% of the total foreign direct investment during the same period. Investment in Hong Kong was up 22% year on year. Investment in the EU and Japan increased by 192.6% and 128.6% respectively. Investment in ASEAN was US$3.99 billion, up 3.9% year on year. Investment in the U.S. reached US$4.19 billion, up 30.5% year on year. Investment in Australia dropped by 16.7% year on year. Affected by major projects in October of last year, China’s investment in Russia went down 78.8% year on year.

In January-October, the direct investment overseas by local enterprises reached US$32.39 billion, accounting for 39.6% with an increase of 4.6 percentage points, going up 33.1% year on year.

Contracted projects overseas. In January-October, the turnover of China’s contracted projects overseas amounted to 663.05 billion yuan, equivalent to US$107.9 billion, up 10.9% year on year. The value of newly-signed contracts was 773.84 billion yuan, equivalent to US$125.93 billion, up 1.1% year on year. The projects each with a contract value of over US$50 million were 484 (4 more than last year’s 480), with a total contract value of US$ 101.51 billion, taking up 80.6% of the total value of newly-signed contracts. The projects each with a contract value of US$100 million or more were 268, a decrease of 15 from that in the same period of last year.

By the end of October, the total contract value of China’s contracted projects overseas reached US$1.3 trillion, with a turnover of US$900.65 billion.

Labor service cooperation overseas. In January-October, labor service personnel dispatched overseas reached 449,000, an increase of 61,000 over the same period of 2013 and up 15.7% year on year. Labor service personnel sent abroad for contracted projects were 217,000, and those for labor cooperation projects were 232,000. In October, all labor service personnel dispatched overseas reached 54,000, an increase of 6,000 over the same period of 2013. By the end of October, all labor service personnel dispatched overseas were 998,000, an increase of 95,000 compared with that at the end of October 2013.

By the end of October, labor service personnel dispatched overseas amounted to 7.37 million.

V. Trade in Service

In the first three quarters, China’s total service import and export volume reached US$430.54 billion, with an increase of 10.2% year on year (6.9 percentage points higher than that of trade in goods), among which service export totaled US$157.18 billion, up 6.8% year on year and service import reached US$273.36 billion, up 12.2% year on year. Major characters are listed below.

1. The proportion of trade in service was on an increasing curve. In the first three quarters, trade in service accounted for 12% of the total foreign trade, 0.7 percentage points higher than that over the same period of last year. Since the 12th Five-Year Plan was released, the trade in service has been on an increasing curve among the foreign trade, accounting for 10.3%, 10.8% and 11.5% respectively in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

2. High value-added service import and export increased rapidly. High value-added service such as computer and information service, financial service, advertising, and telecommunications saw a rapid growth, going up 46.4%, 37.1%, 27% and 22.4% respectively year on year. The import of tourism in traditional service hit US$100 million, reaching US$115.14 billion, up 17.4% year on year, accounting for 42.1% of the total import and still being the largest part of China’s service import. In the first three quarters, the import of transport service totaled US$ 72.13 billion, up 3% year on year, accounting for 26.4% of the total service import.

The increase of export of trade in service remained the same year on year. In the first three quarters, the top three items among the list of service export were tourism, transport service and consulting, registering US$37.9 billion, US$31.4 billion and US$27.7 billion respectively, with an increase of 6.8%, a drop of 2.1% and an increase of 8.7% respectively. The top three items with the largest growth were financial service, film and radio service and architecture service, registering US$2.73 billion, US$120 million and US$8.93 billion, up 41.09%, 31.4% and 18.8% respectively.

3. The deficit of trade in service continued to expand. In the first three quarters, the deficit of trade in service reached US$ 116.2 billion, up 20% year on year. The deficit of tourism trade took the lead with a deficit of US$ 77.2 billion; that of transportation service, patent royalty and license fee and insurance service amounted to US$ 44.4billion, 16.5 billion, and 13.6 billion respectively. Consulting service, other business service and computer and information service saw a trade surplus of US$12.2 billion, 10.6 billion and 6.8 billion respectively.

VI. Service Outsourcing

In January-October 2014, the contracts on service outsourcing totaled 150,217, with the contract value and executed contract value of US$81.84 billion and 61.18 billion, an increase of 26.3% and 33.4% respectively year on year. Major characters are listed below.

Onshore service outsourcing increased rapidly. In January-October, the contract value and executed contract value of offshore service outsourcing totaled US$53.45 billion and US$41.64 billion, with an increase of 18.1% and 28.7% year on year respectively. The contract value and executed contract value of onshore service outsourcing reached US$28.39 billion and US$19.54 billion, with an increase of 45.2% and 44.6% respectively.

The U.S., the EU, Hong Kong and Japan are major markets of service outsourcing. In January-October, the executed contract value in offshore service outsourcing from the U.S., the EU, Hong Kong and Japan was US$9.4 billion, US$6.11 billion, US$5.84 billion and US$4.49 billion respectively, adding up to US$25.84 billion and accounting for 62.1% of the total execution value.

The cooperation in service outsourcing with the countries of the Belt and Road Initiatives was deepened. In January-October, the contract value and the executed contract value of service outsourcing from those countries reached US$8.95 billion and US$7.32 billion respectively, with an increase of 21.1% and 38.6% year on year respectively. The executed contract value of service outsourcing from 11 countries in Southeast Asia totaled US$3.51 billion, with an increase of 70% year on year. The economic and trade cooperation with the countries of the Belt and Road Initiatives can be deepened by actively carrying out service outsourcing and promoting service export.

Jobs in service outsourcing increased steadily. In January-October, newly increased employees in the service outsourcing sector reached 579,000, among which 404,000 with college (including junior college) education or above, accounting for 69.9% of the total employees. As of the end of October, the number of enterprises in the service outsourcing sector totaled 27,411 with 5,940,000 employees, including 3,963,000 with college (including junior college) education or above, accounting for 66.7% of the total

Service outsourcing industry was expanded to high-end business. In January-October, the executed contract value of offshore information technology outsourcing (ITO), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) reached US$21.78 billion, US$13.94 billion and US$ 5.92 billion, accounting for 52.3%, 33.5% and 14.2% respectively and with an increase of 24%, 35.3% and 32.1% respectively year on year. The delivery abilities and professional service level of enterprises were improved continuously. The service outsourcing industry was expanded to high-end business gradually and the proportion of high value added information technology outsourcing such as biological medicine research and development, technology research and development and industrial design and business process outsourcing which provides commercial solutions was growing.

VII. Cross-Straits Investment Consultation Mechanism

According to the 15th regulation of Cross-Straits Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, the investment working group of the Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC) set up a cross-straits investment consultation mechanism. A few days ago, both sides of the investment working group reached consensus on such items as the consultation nature, scale and operational approach of the mechanism. The Ministry of Commerce then set up a questioning column in the public message column of the website of the MOFCOM and the message column of the subsite of the department of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.

The cross-straits investment consultation mechanism is aimed at proving information service for cross-straits investors, promoting bilateral investment of both sides and pushing forward investment facilitation. According to the consensus reached by both sides, problem lists are exchanged once every three months within the investment consultation mechanism. The mechanism only provides consultation on investment regulations, not responsible for handling and solving individual cases. Opinions of the investment consultation are for reference only, not as investment basis.

The Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of MOFCOM is the mainland responsible department of the cross-straits investment consultation mechanism. Mainland enterprises which are inclined to invest in Taiwan can pose questions in the questioning column and we will reply according to the above stated period of time and scale.

China Daily: Some foreign media believed that China’s effort in joining the international fight against the Ebola epidemic was not enough. What is your comment about this? Does China have plans to continue to assist other disease-hit countries? Thank you.

VIII. Implementation of China’s Assistance to Africa to Combat Ebola

Since the beginning of 2014, Ebola has erupted in some Western African countries, to whom the Chinese government has provided four rounds of emergency aids valued 750 million yuan. Up to now, the first three rounds of assistant measures have been fulfilled, and the 4th round is under implementation. Together with related departments, the Ministry of Commerce has set out the list of assistant materials according to the demands of certain African countries, and formulated the implementation plan for strengthening capacity building and local training plan. The Ministry of Commerce is negotiating with the UN to sign a cooperation agreement to donate to the UN multilateral trust fund for Ebola.

The aid to the therapeutic center in Liberia is one of the key measures of the 4th round, and the building materials and equipment needed for the center have been transported to the capital of Liberia by air at the end of October. The construction of the center is going well, and it is scheduled for completion and put into use by the end of November.

The first 163 members of the medical team to Liberia for the operation and management of the therapeutic center and the second group (alternate) of 55 test personnel to the Sierra Leone Biosafety Laboratory started off by chartered airplane on November 14. The high commissioner group combating Ebola with four personnel and Chinese Senior Consultant of the Head of the UN Emergency Mission of Ebola Feng Zijian also left with them.

There will be 1,000 Chinese medical personnel and public health professionals going to the epidemic areas, working on cases observation, curing, lab testing and personnel training. This is the largest foreign assistance in the health field since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Shen Danyang: In facing the Ebola disease, which is a common threat to the entire humankind, the Chinese government has always done the utmost in terms of providing assistance to the disease-hit countries to the best of her capacity. Just now, I have briefed you on the latest development. Here I would like to stress in particular that the assistance provided by the Chinese government is real and tangible. Whatever assistance pledges China makes, China delivers on them. This is broadly commended by the recipient countries, their people and the international community. In fact, we needn’t talk too much about such things, because after all we have always been believers of actions, not words. After all, facts speak louder than words. However, since China’s assistance efforts have been criticized by some foreign media lately, I find it necessary to take this opportunity to briefly introduce to you again what the Chinese government has been doing.

First, China has been one of the largest donors. In April, August, September and October this year, the Chinese government has provided successively four rounds of emergency assistance with a total value of RMB750 million. This assistance was provided in the forms of disease prevention and control materials, cash and food aid, the dispatching of public health experts and medical teams, and the building of bio-safety laboratory and treatment centers for the epidemic-hit countries.

Second, China has responded to the outbreaks immediately, and delivered the assistance expeditiously. Last April, the Chinese leadership announced China’s assistance measures immediately after the outbreak in West Africa. China was the first to provide Ebola-specific assistance to West Africa, first to send experts and medical teams to the disease-stricken regions to help guide and directly participate in disease treatment at the forefront, first to ship medical protective gears with special airplanes, and the first to deliver them to the disease-hit regions and distribute them for use. China is also one of the countries that have provided the most batches and largest quantity of materials to Africa on a cumulative basis.

Third, China’s assistance efforts not only focus on disease prevention and control, but also on treatment. Cumulatively China has sent nearly 450 medical personnel to the disease-hit regions to provide disease treatment at the forefront.

Fourth, China’s assistance has not only targeted epidemic-hit countries, but also covered the neighboring countries. The assistance was not only meant for emergency relief, but also long-term considerations. Whilst putting a focus on assisting the three epidemic-hit countries, we have also actively assisted the ten neighboring countries to reduce disease import risks. Whilst giving priority to satisfying the urgent needs of the African side, we have also been advancing the long-term cooperation in public health between China and Africa.

Fifth, China’s assistance contains both “hardware” and “software” measures. We have not only assisted the building of bio-safety laboratories and treatment centers, but also sent experts in public health to offer technical training.

Shen Danyang: Given what the Chinese government has done in combating Ebola, if some western media still want to accuse China’s of not doing enough in fighting Ebola, I would like to ask who-else has achieved the above-mentioned points that China has done? China’s assistance efforts this time were applauded by the governments and peoples of the recipient countries. Leaders and peoples of Serra Leone, Liberia and Guinea commended China’s assistance whole-heartedly. Their accolades show that China’s assistance was approved by our African friends, and prove that the actual contribution of China’s assistance was real and substantial.

Besides, this is not going to be all about our assistance to combat the Ebola epidemic. Going forward we have much more work to do. As we implement the assistance measures in the fourth round, we will look long-term, sum up the experience in assisting the fight against Ebola, continue to do our best in providing assistance based on the needs of African countries, actively promote the all-dimensional cooperation between China and Africa in medical and health fields, share our success experience in SARS prevention and control, help Africa improve its medical and livelihood conditions, establish and improve the prevention and control system for public health, promote economic and social development, and raise Africa’s own development capacity. Thank you for your questions.

VIIII. China-Australia, China-New Zealand, China-Fiji Trade and Economic Relations

China-Australia Trade and Economic Relations

According to the statistics by China Customs, in 2013, China-Australia bilateral trade totaled US$136.38 billion, up 11.5% year on year, accounting for 3.3% of China’s total foreign trade. Among others, US$37.56 billion was China’s export to Australia, down 0.4% year on year; US$98.82 billion was China’s import from Australia, up 16.8% year on year. Australia is China’s eighth largest trading partner. By the end of 2013, Chinese enterprises had made a combined investment of US$58.45 billion in Australia, second only to Hong Kong, turning Australia into China’s second largest investment destination abroad. By the end of September 2014, Australia’s investment in China registered US$7.71 billion. According to the statistics by the Australian side, China-Australia bilateral trade totaled AUD141.89 billion, accounting for 28.2% of Australia’s foreign trade. China is Australia’s largest trading partner, largest source of imports and largest export market.

China-New Zealand Trade and Economic Relations

The China-New Zealand FTA is the first bilateral free trade agreement that China has signed and implemented with developed countries and it has got on well so far. According to the statistics by China Customs, since the FTA was carried out in 2008, the bilateral trade value has enjoyed an average growth of 23% year on year. China-New Zealand bilateral trade amounted to US$12.39 billion in 2013, up 28% year on year. Among others, US$ 4.14 billion was China’s exports to New Zealand, going up 6.9% year on year; US$8.25 billion was China’s imports from New Zealand, up 42% year on year. By the end of 2013, China had made a combined value of US$540 million investment in New Zealand; By the end of September 2014, New Zealand enterprises have made an actual investment of US$1.33 billion in China. According to the statistics by the New Zealand side, New Zealand-China bilateral trade registered NZD18.2 billion in 2013, and China has become New Zealand’s largest goods trading partner and the largest export market.

China-Fiji Trade and Economic Relations

According to China Customs, China-Fiji bilateral trade amounted to US$300 million in 2013, up 28.7% year on year. Fiji is the third largest trading partner, the second largest source of imports and the third export market among the Pacific island countries that have established diplomatic relations with China. Meanwhile, Fiji is also China’s second largest investment destination in the Pacific island countries. By the end of September 2014, China’s total non-financial direct investment in Fiji amounted to US$220 million. Over the same period, Fiji had invested in a total of 30 projects in China with an actual investment of US$5.5 million. In addition, China’s contracted projects and economic and technological cooperation in Fiji also get on well. So far, China’s newly signed contract value for contracted projects has registered US$640 million with a realized turnover of US$ 920 million.

That’s all about the briefing. Now, you are welcome to ask any questions.

China Consumer News: The State Council has just released the Opinions Regarding the Promotion of the Healthy Development of Domestic Trade and Circulation. What is the background of promulgating these Opinions? Domestic trade and circulation fall into the realm of traditional industries. What does it imply to emphasize its healthy development now?

Shen Danyang: The Chinese economy is facing increasing downward pressure as it is currently experiencing a change in the pace of economic growth, painful structural adjustments and the hangover of previous stimulus policies. With the decline or slowdown in investment and export, domestic trade and circulation has always maintained steady growth. In particular, growth in total social retail sales has been constantly above 10%, serving as a “stabilizer”. It was under such circumstances that the State Council published the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Domestic Trade and Circulation (Document No. 51, 2014 of the State Council), which require the further promotion of domestic trade and circulation. This document is very much needed when it comes to the efforts to further promote the healthy development of domestic trade and circulation presently, because domestic trade and circulation can play a greater role in both expanding consumption and guiding production, and in improving people’s livelihood and driving economic growth. To illustrate this I would like to cite some examples. According to the estimate conducted by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation and other research institutes, employment in China’s domestic trade and circulation industry had exceeded 140 million by the end of 2013, making this industry a major job-creating sector. In fact, the job creator amongst all services sub-sectors is the domestic trade and circulation industry. In terms of tax revenues, in 2013 the circulation industry generated RMB1.1 trillion tax revenue, accounting for 16% of the country’s total tax revenue. The development of domestic trade plays an important role in protecting and expanding consumption. In 2013, end consumption contributed to more than 50% of economic growth, and became the number one driving force of China’s economic growth. It is precisely because of these backgrounds and reasons that we must further promote the development of domestic trade and circulation. Thank you for your questions.

CBN: I have two questions. First, we saw yesterday on MOFCOM’s website that the China-Australia FTA negotiations were substantially concluded. Could you comment on the significance of this agreement? We have noted that tariff rates of diary products, among others, will be reduced to zero by 2019. Second question: it is said that the second batch of applications for free trade zones, including Tianjin, Fujian and Guangdong, will be approved. Could you verify this? Thank you.

Shen Danyang: On the substantial conclusion of the China-Australia FTA, we posted some briefings on our website yesterday. We will find an appropriate time to host a special press conference on the subject of China-Australia FTA and other related topics, just like the one we held yesterday on the China-Korea FTA. The substantial conclusion of the China-Australia FTA is a very important event in Sino-Australian trade and economic relations. It is also a very important measure to accelerate the pace of implementing the FTA strategy. It has especially important reamifications for the furthering of a sound and rapidly-growing China-Australia trade and economic relationship going forward. Because the last round of substantial negotiation was just concluded, I will not be in a position to brief you on much of the content until I receive the text and conduct some further analysis of it.

Your question is an old question. At this moment, I could only give you an in-principle answer. Recently the CPC Leading Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reform reviewed the Opinion on the Work Progress and the Rollout of Replicable Reform Pilot Experience of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. It was emphasized at the meeting that the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed that on top of advancing the existing pilot some eligible locations should be selected as candidates for free trade parks and ports. MOFCOM will advance the relevant work according to what the CPC Central Committee and the State Council had laid out. Thank you.

National Business Daily: I would like to ask a question about the G20 Summit. All past G20 Summits have had a focus on economic growth. This year’s summit also produced a Brisbane G20 Leaders’ Communique, which mentioned particularly the important role of trade and competition in driving economic growth. However, given the unbalanced nature of economic growth in different countries, if the G20’s collective GDP is to achieve a 2% additional growth, there is a need for these trade policies, and a need for their full implementation. My question is what measures China is going to take in order to implement the economic growth target set out in the Communique? Thank you.

Shen Danyang: Like previous G20 summits, this year’s summit has also focused on global economic growth. Faced with a world economic recovery that is weaker than expected, the Chinese government has adopted a series of measures to stabilize growth and adjust structure. Whilst boosting economic growth, it has continued to contribute to global economic recovery. These measures are manifold. In the field of commerce alone, we have adopted measures in at least five aspects in order to give full play to the role of export, consumption and investment in driving economic growth:

First, deepening reform and opening up in key areas and links such as the establishment of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the streamlining of foreign investment examination and approval procedures. Second, striving to expand consumer demand. Just now I have told you that the total social retail sales of the past 10 months had increased by 12%. This growth rate did not come by easily. In fact, consumption was the largest contributor to economic growth, whereas in the past it had been investment that contributed the most. Third, promoting the steady growth and structural adjustment of foreign trade. When it comes to foreign trade, be it import or export, China is still the best performer amongst the world’s major economies. Fourth, Coordinating “bringing in” with “going global”, maintaining the rapid growth of not only inbound foreign direct investment but also outbound investment. Fifth, strengthening bilateral and multilateral opening up and cooperation. We have reached agreement on series of new FTAs, including the substantial conclusion of the FTA negotiations with Korea and Australia. With these policy combinations, we have managed to achieve the steady growth in household consumption, the recovery of import and export growth, and the rapid increase in outbound investment cooperation, thus contributing to the steady growth of the Chinese economy, and to a large extent to global economic growth as well.

Economic growth is a core concern of the G20 summit. A target to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth was put forward at the G20 Toronto Summit. This year Australia as the host nation proposed further that the G20’s growth target should be a 2% additional growth in the next five years with a view to reinvigorating global economy. To this end, members of the G20 have all come up with specific policy measures and implementation pathways. China has also prepared carefully and proposed a rather comprehensive growth strategy report. For instance, we take great store by the role of trade in driving growth, and therefore have made comprehensive policy commitments on the trade front in the growth strategy report. These commitments include pledges to stabilizing export and encouraging import, covering both trade in goods and trade in services; ranging from trade liberalization and facilitation to innovation of trade models such as cross-border electronic commerce. We believe that China’s commitments on the promotion of trade development will be conducive to supporting the strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the Chinese economy, which in itself is contribution to and support for the G20. Thank you for your question.

People’s Daily Online: Recent data show that FDI from Japan, the US, ASEAN and the EU to China is decreasing. What is the reason? Alibaba created another miracle by posting RMB 57 billion of sales on November 11. How do you view the outlook of online shopping in November? Thank you. (2014-11-18 11:21:47)

Shen Danyang: Those countries you have mentioned used to invest heavily in China’s manufacturing sector, but due to the pressure of overcapacity, restructuring, transformation and upgrading, the sector has saw FDI contraction. Domestic private businesses, SOEs and foreign-invested enterprises, all confronted with similar challenges, are taking readjustment and transformation measures to seek new opportunities. In fact, not only FDI from the abovementioned countries but the overall FDI to manufacturing is decreasing as opposed to rising FDI to services. The US and other countries need to shift FDI to services and high-end manufacturing to expand investment in China.

The just-concluded “Double 11” event attracted record number of vendors, and created another miracle of e-commerce. It is estimated that 27,000 vendors participated in Tmall promotion alone. Taobao and Tmall registered RMB 57.1 billion of sales, up 63% year on year. The sales of JD.com stood at RMB 8.2 billion, doubling that of last year. Other e-commerce businesses also reported better performance compared with last year. The tremendous role of e-commerce in tapping consumption potential is highlighted once again

MOFCOM supports this promotion event in general, but requires it to be legal and be organized rationally. Compared to last year, the “Double 11” event this year met the requirements basically.

Market feedbacks show that the much-criticized problems of false pricing, exaggerated advertisement and impulsive consumption were reined in effectively. Prior to the event, commercial, industrial and quality supervision authorities issued various requirements, and businesses made great preparations to ensure product quality, improve consumer experience and innovate on approaches. Most of them participated in the promotion event abiding by laws and regulations.

The event is organized in a more rational way. For example, many vendors extended the promotion. Some vendors adopted the strategy of diversified competition to improve consumers’ shopping experience. Physical retailors moved faster to embrace e-commerce and accelerated online and offline integration. Haitao, a cross-border shopping platform, joined the promotion for the first time. Consumers were more sober-minded. These all point to progress. Thank you for the question. (2014-11-18 11:22:21)

China News Service: A question on China-Japan-Korea FTA. Some Japanese media believe that a China-Korea FTA will negatively affect Japanese producers of cars, digital and home appliances, while others say that a China-Korea FTA will press the forming of a China-Japan-Korea FTA. What is MOFCOM’s take on this issue? Will MOFCOM speed up the China-Japan-Korea FTA negotiations? Will China-Japan-Korea FTA compare China-Korea FTA for liberalization level? Thank you. (2014-11-18 11:23:15)

Shen Danyang: China-Korea FTA will accelerate the integration of China and Korea into the value chain of the globe and East Asia in particular, and inject impetus to regional integration in East Asia and the Asia Pacific. After five rounds of talks, China-Japan-Korea FTA negotiations have made progress. We believe that the stable political relations among the three countries serves a basic guarantee for the smooth negotiation process, as advancing negotiations requires strong political commitment. Every FTA is unique and the liberalization level depends on the will and joint efforts of all parties. Moving forward, China will work with Japan and Korea to press ahead with the negotiations with an open and pragmatic attitude. Thank you for the question. (2014-11-18 11:23:40)

Phoenix TV: Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program was officially launched yesterday. What role does it play in boosting investment and business development? What positive news do you expect to come? Thanks. (2014-11-18 11:27:07)

Shen Danyang: I noticed many media reports on this issue. After the Program was launched, everyone is happy, including investors and companies. There are many positive comments from the media. In general, we view this Program positively and wish it a healthy development. Thanks for the question. (2014-11-18 11:27:25)

CRI: Recently China and the US reached agreement on the reduction of high-tech product tariffs. What impact will this have in the future? It is going to be easier for Chinese high-tech products to be exported into the US? Is it going to make it easier for Chinese firms to invest in the US? Is the China-US agreement on high-tech tariff reduction going to have some impact?

Shen Danyang: I assume you are asking about the bilateral consensus between China and the US on the ITA expansion talks. China and the US have been negotiating the ITA expansion deal for a long time. Recently they reached a bilateral consensus, which created positive conditions for the resumption and conclusion of the WTO’s plurilateral negotiations on the ITA. Going forward China will work together with other participating parties and strive to resume and conclude as soon as possible the entire expansion talks. Thank you for your question.

International Business Daily: It has been a month since the Administrative Measures for Outbound Investment was enacted on 6 October. Aside from the investment projects that involve some sensitive countries and regions as well as sensitive industries as stipulated in Article Six, all outbound investment of any given value by Chinese enterprises will only be subject to a registration system in the future. MOFCOM will no longer conduct examination and approval over these investment projects. However, some fear that in the course of implementing these Measures local regulatory authorities may exercise some disguised form of examination and approval at the operational level. What is your view on this? Are there any measures to tackle this? Thank you.

Last month, the Administrative Measures for Outbound Investment, which was newly revised by MOFCOM, was officially implemented. The new Measures, by putting in place an administrative model based mainly on registration and supported by examination and approval, have narrowed the scope of projects that still require an approval, shortened the duration of such approvals, improved services for the public, and greatly facilitated enterprises’ outbound investment.

The new Measures stipulate that outbound investment projects subject to registration requirement should be registered with the provincial-level competent commerce authorities of their location; while those subject to approval shall be submitted by the local enterprises to the provincial-level competent commerce authorities of their location for approval. Meanwhile, in order to fulfill the original intention of the reform, the new Measures also set out very clearly specific provisions for the procedures, timing and documentation requirements for outbound investment registration and approval. Therefore, we believe there won’t be such problems as approvals in disguise or split regulation. Of course, I cannot guarantee you that these problems won’t occur absolutely. If these problems arise, we would welcome the scrutiny from the businesses, the media present here, and the general public. Thank you for your questions.

Asia Television: What is your estimate of the impact of the “Occupy Central” protests in Hong Kong on tourism from the Mainland? Will it also affect the investment in Hong Kong during the 4th quarter?

Shen Danyang: The so-called “Occupy Central” protests will have some negative impact on Hong Kong’s economy. Even if this impact does not manifest itself in the near term, it will in a long run. This thing is a bad thing. It violates the law and disrupts Hong Kong. And this is one of the main reasons why the Hong Kong SAR government and the general public in Hong Kong are firmly opposed to “Occupy Central”. As for how big is the impact, economists and business experts will provide their professional analysis going forward. Of course, many businesses and people of Hong Kong have already felt the impact. Thank you for your question.

China National Radio: The APEC meetings were just concluded last week. I would like to ask if China has any ideas and concrete measures to advance the FTAAP?

Shen Danyang: At the recently closed APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, thanks to all parties’ efforts, member economies reached consensus on the Beijing Roadmap for APEC to push forward the building of the FTAAP, and decided to launch and comprehensively and systemically advance the FTAAP process. This marked the final birth of the FTAAP in the APEC China Year after ten years’ of incubation, the launch of the substantive process, and the translation of a long-term vision into some concrete action led by the Roadmap.

In order to reach consensus, all parties had made major efforts. To advance the FTAAP process comprehensively and systemically, APEC member economies need to take more concrete actions. Going forward we should ensure that the following four tasks are carried out well: First, to form an expert group expeditiously to launch a comprehensive strategic study of the FTAAP and provide an in-depth assessment of the economic impact, development pathway and realization approaches of the FTAAP. Second, to implement the information exchange mechanism of the FTAAP, enhance the interactions between FTAs, and improve transparency. In fact, in the Asia Pacific region there exist many ongoing FTA negotiations like the TPP and RCEP. Some of them have been negotiated for a long time, while some others have just begun. There was a mechanism reached amongst these FTA negotiations for increasing transparency and enhancing exchange, now such a mechanism needs to be implemented. Third, to conduct negotiating capacity building for the FTAAP, especially capacity building around the negotiation of new issues. Fourth, to advance cooperation in areas such as the next-generation trade and investment issues, trade facilitation, services and investment, and actively explore coordination on rules. China looks forward to working together with all parties and translating the FTAAP from a vision into concrete actions under the guidance of the Roadmap, with a view to injecting a stronger impetus into regional integration. Thank you for your questions.

Shen Danyang: That concludes today’s press conference. Thank you.