[Gao Feng]: Good afternoon friends from the press. Welcome to the online press conference of the Ministry of Commerce.
  
We are very pleased to invite Mr. Zhu Xiaoliang, Director of the Department of Market System Development, the Ministry of Commerce. I am Gao Feng, the spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce. We will introduce to you the relevant work of the Ministry of Commerce and answer the questions from the press.

First, Mr. Zhu Xiaoliang will introduce the relevant work of the Ministry of Commerce in the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP).

[Zhu Xiaoliang]: Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press, good afternoon.

Today is the 17th day of the first month of the lunar year. First of all, happy Chinese New Year to you as a late blessing, and thanks for your hard work! Meanwhile, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the vast number of party members, cadres and staff who are working in the front line of epidemic prevention and supply guarantee! Sincere thanks to everyone for their selfless dedication and hard work!

Since the outbreak of the NCP, the leading Party group of the Ministry of Commerce has attached great importance to it. We have carefully studied and applied the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, and resolutely implemented the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. We have viewed protecting the interests of the people as the highest purpose, adhered to the bottom-line thinking and enhanced the risk-awareness. Epidemic control has been carried out as the most important political task at present. At the same time, working together with relevant ministries and commissions, we have gone all out to ensure the supply of important living materials and made every effort to meet the needs of the people, and strived to maintain stable and orderly production and life.

In guaranteeing the supply of important living materials, we have given equal weight to the principle of territoriality and joint guarantee and supply. We have paid equal attention to the effectiveness of the market and the government's potential, and to the key issues and the long-term consideration of the overall situation by focusing on both epidemic prevention and control and the market guarantee and supply. With the development and change of the epidemic situation, we have responded accordingly. Through measures such as making comprehensive deployment and mobilization, strengthening the monitoring and early warning, and improving supply organization, we have improved the working mechanism of horizontal cooperation and vertical connection. Work responsibilities are explicitly allocated to carry out supply guarantee task.
  
Commercial authorities at all levels, industry intermediary organizations, and key circulation enterprises have actively responded to the call of the Party Central Committee. Grass-roots party organizations and the majority of party members have effectively played the role of battle fortress and vanguard. They are deployed in a unified way in accordance with the party group of the Ministry to overcome difficulties and act quickly so as to ensure the supply of living materials and the smooth market operation.

As of February 9, daily necessities in various places were generally in sufficient supply, and prices were basically stable. According to the monitoring by the Ministry of Commerce, the prices of grain and oil were basically stable, and the wholesale grain price of 100 large-scale agricultural and sideline products wholesale markets rose slightly by 0.2% compared to January 20. The price of meat fluctuated slightly, and the wholesale prices of pork, beef, and mutton rose by 3.5%, 0.7%, and 0.5% respectively compared to January 20. The price of poultry products continued to fall, and the wholesale price of eggs dropped by 9.7% compared to January 20. The prices of fruits and vegetables saw ups and downs by variety and time period. The average wholesale prices of 30 kinds of vegetables and 6 kinds of fruits increased by 10.7% and 1.7% respectively compared to January 20. 

[Zhu Xiaoliang]: In order to guarantee the supply of important living materials, the Ministry of Commerce has timely set up a leading group to respond to the epidemic in accordance with the arrangements of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, and advanced related work in an orderly manner.

1. We have established and improved emergency mechanism. We have worked with the National Development and Reform Commission and established the Joint Epidemic Prevention and Control and Living Materials Guarantee Group of the State Council. We have held video conferences, printed working documents, and re-mobilized and redeployed market supply guarantees. We have established the working mechanism for emergency allocation and transportation among the government, market, and society, the liaison mechanism for emergency work of 31 provincial commercial departments, and the working mechanism for emergency response in joint safeguard and supply from 9 provinces for Hubei Province, especially Wuhan. We have ensured that “when one is struck by disaster, all sides come to help”.

2.We have implemented dynamic monitoring and early warning. Daily reporting systems for the market demand and supply of daily necessities and the capacity of key supply and distribution companies have been quickly started. The daily operation of wholesale markets and commercial outlets have been monitored to keep abreast of changes in the gaps between supply and demand, commercial inventory, and market prices. Up to now, the 50 large agricultural product wholesale markets that the Ministry of Commerce has focused on are operating normally, and 20 large chain stores that are located in 34 large and medium-sized cities across the country with more than 7,000 outlets have the opening ratio of over 92%.

3.We have strengthened precise guidance services. While focusing on epidemic prevention and control, we have orderly organized qualified commercial and trading enterprises to resume operations and ensured the normal operation of the supply network for daily necessities to meet the basic living needs of urban and rural residents. The Ministry of Commerce and the National Health Commission jointly deployed consumer service enterprises to ensure epidemic prevention and control, and set guidelines for the management of personnel, places, facilities and equipment, commodities, takeaway service, as well as business service specifications. Guidelines for the prevention and control of the epidemic established by the China General Chamber of Commerce have been launched for retail enterprises and catering enterprises. Working with the National Development and Reform Commission, we have guided China Chain Store and Franchise Association to mobilize and organize more than 200,000 stores in nearly 300 companies to launch an initiative named "to guarantee supply, to stabilize prices, and to keep business open " , promising to work together to ensure supply by mobilizing multiple sources of goods, to resolutely eliminate price gouging and hoarding, doing their best to maintain the stability of commodity prices, to overcome operational difficulties, stabilize business hours, and strive to keep stores open.

4.We have strengthened the organization of sources of supply and the release of reserves. MOFCOM has assigned 500 large-scale production and distribution enterprises as key enterprises for emergency and supply guarantee. We have figured out the sources of goods of key categories, and guided the enterprises to properly increase commercial inventory, to make sure that the goods could be transferred, shipped and used in case of emergency. We have expanded imports of badly-needed goods, meats and other daily necessities, encouraged export-oriented production enterprises to give priority to guaranteeing the supply of medical materials and important daily necessities on domestic market, and mobilized and organized relevant chambers of commerce to provide timely information on overseas supply and business. Together with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, MOFCOM released more than 100 thousand tons of frozen pork from national reserve; guided northern large-scale municipalities to release winter and spring vegetable reserves, with Shaanxi releasing over 33 thousand tons, Ningxia releasing over 6 thousand tons, and Qingdao releasing over 8 thousand tons. Recently, 2 thousand tons of frozen pork from national reserves have been transferred to Wuhan, which could be released at any time.

5.We have encouraged innovation in operation and services modes. Epidemic prevention and control measures like closed-off management and isolation control have brought many new challenges to the supply guarantee of daily necessities, as well as new changes to people’s life demands and purchasing modes. Faced with new situation and new problems, enterprises of commercial circulation have innovated their thoughts and combated flexibly, trying every means to secure the supply of important living materials. For example, supermarkets and catering enterprises could overcome the difficulty in recruiting workers and resuming work through sharing labor; e-commerce platforms could promote catering brands to exploit production of semi-finished fast food, and realize online and offline integration and transformation of supply chain through online sales; e-commerce for fresh food and consumer services could realize the double goals of goods delivery and avoiding infection through no-touch delivery; supermarkets could introduce booking service for standard vegetable package, with the customers booking online and picking up at different time, which would not only reduce the burden of supermarkets but also satisfy the living needs of the people.

That’s all I would like to introduce to you. Thank you!

Gao Feng: Thank Mr. Zhu Xiaoliang for the introduction. Next, I will report to you the general situation of China’s service import and export in 2019.

In 2019, encouraged by the policies like the pilot for innovative development of service trade, China’s service trade kept a steady upward trend on the whole, with obvious decrease of deficit, remarkably optimized structure and preliminary progress of high-quality development displayed. The total service import and export volume of the whole year reached 5,415.29 billion yuan (RMB, the same hereinafter), up 2.8% year on year. Of the total volume, export amounted to 1,956.40 billion yuan, up 8.9% year on year, and import was 3,458.89 billion yuan, down 0.4% year on year, showing the following features:

Deficit of service trade obviously decreased. In 2019, the development potential of China’s service industry was continuously released, and the added value of service industry increased by 6.9% year on year, laying a good foundation for the rapid growth of service export. Total export of service accounted for 36.1% of total import and export of service, with 2 percentage points up year on year. The growth rate of service export was 9.3 percentage points higher than that of import, driving service trade deficit to decrease by 10.5 percentage points to 1,502.49 billion yuan, enjoying a year-on-year decrease of 176.00 billion yuan.

The structure of service trade was obviously optimized. In 2019, the import and export volume of China’s knowledge-intensive service reached 1,877.77 billion yuan, up 10.8% year on year, with 8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of service import and export, taking up 34.7% of the total service import and export volume, with 2.5 percentage points up year on year. Of the total amount, export of knowledge-intensive service reached 991.68 billion yuan, up 13.4% year on year, accounting for 50.7% of the total service export, with 2 percentage points up year on year; the import of knowledge-intensive service was 886.09 billion yuan, up 8% year on year, accounting for 25.6% of the total service import, with 2 percentage points up year on year. In terms of the specific sectors, individual entertainment service, telecommunication, computer and information service, and financial service continued to grow rapidly with the growth rate of import and export being 19.4%, 18.9% and 18.7% year on year respectively.

The above is the information we would like to introduce to you. Next, Mr. Zhu Xiaoliang and I are willing to answer your questions. Please.

Phoenix: Wuhan is the top priority for the government’s efforts in ensuring market supply. What work has MOFCOM done to ensure the supply of daily necessities in Wuhan? Are there any panic buying or out-of-stock supplies in Wuhan?

Thank you for paying attention to our work and raising this question.

The COVID-19 epidemic has drawn wide public attention. While preventing and controlling the epidemic, the CPC central committee and the State Council pay high level of attention to ensuring the supply of daily necessities particularly for Hubei Province and Wuhan. President Xi Jinping made important instructions regarding the supply of daily necessities such as vegetables in Wuhan. Premier Li Keqiang also proposed clear requirements multiple times. In the spirit of these instructions by our central leaders, MOFCOM has adopted practical measures and worked conscientiously to guarantee the daily supplies in Wuhan.

First, MOFCOM and NDRC have set up the working group on ensuring daily supplies for Wuhan and established unimpeded and efficient communication channels and coordination mechanisms. Since the epidemic broke out, we have acted swiftly in coordination with each other and solved a number of salient issues on a point-to-point basis, such as impeded logistics, the decoupling between wholesale and retailing, labor shortage and long queues in supermarkets.

Second, we have established a coordinated supply mechanism covering 9 surrounding provinces including Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi. These provinces can quickly respond to any shortages from Hubei and arrange shipment immediately. Since January 23, a total of 8 provinces and municipality including Chongqing, Guangxi have sent to Hubei over 6800 tons of vegetables, over 20 tons of cooking oil, and over 200 tons of quick-frozen and instant foods.

Third, we have dispatched a working group to Wuhan to match up with the Department of Commerce of Hubei Province and the Bureau of Commerce of Wuhan so that we could see how the market is going in the city and give targeted instructions to help solve difficulties promptly. Recently our working group has visited Baishazhou and Sijimei — two large agricultural by-products wholesale markets as well as a number of retailing supermarkets such as Wushang, Zhongshang and Zhongbai. We have proposed concrete suggestions and guiding opinions to ensure the supply in Wuhan and tried every means to help businesses tackle the disruption of supply chains, the lack of protective supplies and other thorny problems.

Fourth, we have resumed the market supply network of Wuhan. Before the lockdown, nearly 400 farmers markets served as the main channels for vegetable retailing as they took up 70-80 % of the total in Wuhan. Following the medical quarantine, all farmers markets in the downtown have been closed and retailing has been shifted largely to 3 supermarkets, namely Wushang, Zhongshang and Zhongbai. With our support, these three supermarkets have improved sourcing channels by increasing supplies from wholesale markets like Baishazhou and Sijimei. We have set up a coordinated mechanism between wholesale markets and supermarkets to ensure supply and meet the demands for daily necessities during this special period. In recent days, on top of epidemic prevention and control, we have also guided the city to resume the operation of farmers markets and to organize outdoor markets so as to facilitate the efforts of epidemic prevention and provide diversified products for consumers at different levels.

Fifth, we have made plans for emergency shipment. While ensuring the main role of the market in guaranteeing supply, we have adopted the bottom-line mindset and been well prepared for the worst scenario. According to the geographical locations and shipping capacity, we have selected 3 wholesale markets in Henan, Chongqing and other regions as the bases from which goods are shipped to Wuhan. So far, these markets can transport as much as one ton of vegetables to Wuhan every day. We will arrange shipment the moment we receive requests from Wuhan.

Sixth, we have organized donation campaigns to supplement the supply. Since the epidemic outbreak, we have mobilized businesses across the country to join our efforts in ensuring supply of Wuhan and received generous support from all walks of life. Since January 29, over 4000 tons of donated vegetables have been put on the market of Wuhan, which will be followed by another 3500 tons of donations. These donations have played a vital role in vegetable supply for the city.

With concerted efforts of all parties, currently the supply of daily necessities in Wuhan is kept at a normal level. Barring structural shortages of a few items such as chilled fresh meat and fresh leafy vegetables, the supply of most daily essentials is sufficient, with a wide range of varieties and moderate fluctuation in prices. There’s been no obvious volatility signaling market anomaly or any panic buying and out-of-stock supplies. Baishazhou and Sijimei are in normal operation with more than 80% of vendors open to businesses. The daily trading volume has risen to more than 3000 tons, and the dynamic inventory remains around 8000 tons. 1100 stores in Wushang, Zhongshang and Zhongbai stay open in spite of difficulties such as labor shortage and lack of preventive equipment. Thanks to their efforts, the daily sales of vegetables now stand at around 1000 tons and the inventory is kept around 2300 tons.
  
Moving forward, MOFCOM will stay committed to the instructions by the CPC central committee and the State Council, watch closely any new developments on the daily supplies of Wuhan, work with all relevant parties to resolve emerging issues and difficulties, so as to ensure sufficient supply and stable prices on the market. Thank you.

China Daily: According to the CIIE Bureau, the third CIIE business exhibition is now open for registration. How is it going so far?

Gao Feng: The first and second CIIE attained complete success thanks to the concerted efforts of the public and the active participation of the international community. Participating companies have seen first-hand the potential of the large market in China and their efforts paid off. As the appeal of CIIE grows, so does the registration for exhibition. More than 200 companies signed up for the third CIIE business exhibition before the second CIIE concluded. No sooner had the second Expo closed than the China International Import Expo Bureau opened the registration for the third CIIE business exhibition.
  
At present, business attraction for the third CIIE business exhibition is progressing smoothly. As of the end of January, more than 50% of the exhibition area has been booked, and more than 1,000 companies have signed up to participate in the exhibition. We welcome companies from all over the world to actively participate in the exhibition, share the dividends of China's economic growth, and seize the vast opportunities brought by the enormous market. Thank you.

Xinhua News Agency: We have noticed that China and the EU held the 26th round of bilateral investment treaty negotiations in mid-January. What progress has been made in the negotiations? What will be the next steps? Will the two teams meet the goal set by leaders for the negotiations as scheduled?

Gao Feng: From January 16th to 20th, China and the EU held the 26th round of negotiations of the EU-China Investment Agreement in Brussels, which made positive progress on the text of the agreement and the offer for the list, and made plans for this year's negotiations.
  
The two sides will follow the instructions given by the leaders to complete the negotiations in 2020, make sure the negotiations maintain a good momentum, and work together to address the differences so as to reach an agreement that benefits the businesses and people of both sides at an early date. Thank you.

Market News International: Mr. Spokesman, we are concerned about whether imports and exports will be affected in China. It is reported that some countries restrict the entry of Chinese ships. If factories fail to produce as normal, will export orders face a wide range of defaults?

Gao Feng: We are closely monitoring the possible impact of the epidemic on foreign trade. At present, relevant departments and local governments are helping enterprises. Some local governments have issued policies to support businesses. A number of foreign trade companies are ready to resume production.
  
I want to emphasize that there is no reason to take measures to interfere with international trade. At present, China is setting all out to deal with the epidemic. We have the faith, ability, and confidence to win this fight. The WHO also speaks highly of China's efforts and the progress it has made, stressing that to restrict transfers, trade and flows is not recommended. It is hoped that all countries can show solidarity and cooperation and work together to win this fight and create favorable conditions for the normal international trade. Thank you.

Economic Daily: Thank you moderator. The No. 1 Document the central government issued in 2020 puts forward two priority tasks of eradicating poverty and addressing shortcomings in agriculture and rural areas to build a well-off society. What will the Ministry of Commerce do this year to tackle poverty and what are the measures of poverty alleviation via commerce?

Gao Feng: The Ministry of Commerce is serious about fulfilling its political duty of poverty eradication. MOFCOM has leveraged its advantages of mobilizing domestic and international resources, integrating urban and rural development and connecting production and marketing through a combination of creative measures to fight poverty with commerce. It has supported production, distribution, opening up and job creation in poor areas. Those efforts have paid off. The initiative of poverty alleviation through e-commerce covers all 832 poverty-stricken counties by national standard. The measure of poverty alleviation through domestic services has put more than 270,000 people from registered poor households to work. More than 50,000 workers from poor counties have worked overseas under the initiative of poverty alleviation through overseas labor services. Poverty alleviation through industries has expanded the sales channels of agricultural products. The initiative of poverty alleviation via border trade has brought stability and prosperity to the border areas.
  
The year 2020 will witness the realization of the goal of building a well-off society in all respects and the complete victory over poverty. MOFCOM will study General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thoughts on poverty alleviation and fully implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th Plenary Sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and the Central Economic Work Conference. To achieve the goal of building a well-off society in all aspects, we will step up efforts, pay close attention to implementation, complete the task of poverty eradication, consolidate the results of poverty alleviation, and explore long-term mechanisms. In terms of poverty alleviation via e-commerce, we will continue to focus on the deep poverty areas in Xinjiang, Tibet, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan and Qinghai, lock in the outcomes of e-commerce poverty alleviation, and promote the precise implementation of policies. In terms of poverty alleviation through domestic services, more jobs will be created in poor areas and rural areas. Enterprises engaged in the pilot project of poverty alleviation through foreign labor services will be encouraged to continue to hire more laborers from poor areas. In terms of poverty alleviation through industries, MOFCOM will further expand the sales channels of agricultural products in poor areas and establish long-term connections between production and marketing. The Canton Fair will continue to increase its support for participating enterprises from poor areas. Initiative of poverty alleviation through border trade will continue to produce outcomes. MOFCOM will continue to follow through those measures for poverty alleviation via commerce and make new contributions to poverty eradication and building a well-off society in all respects. Thank you.

South China Morning Post: Mr. Spokesman, many foreign companies have temporarily closed branches or factories in China since the epidemic outbreak, which also caused concerns about the withdrawal of foreign capital and China's position in the global supply chain. What is the response of the Ministry of Commerce to this? What are the impacts of the outbreak on foreign capital?

Gao Feng: Since the outbreak, governments at all levels have been actively helping foreign-invested enterprises to overcome the challenges. Recently, we issued a notice to guide local governments to step up service and support for foreign-invested enterprises, optimize and innovate ways of investment promotion, and continue to facilitate the implementation of large foreign investment projects.

On the whole, China's comprehensive competitive advantage in attracting foreign investment has not changed. Going forward, we will work with relevant departments and local authorities to continue to provide more service to foreign-invested enterprises, help them respond to the epidemic, and coordinate and solve the problems they encounter in the process of investment, production and operation. Thank you.

Gao Feng: Due to time constraints, that’s all for today's press conference. We will continue to provide you with timely information and respond to your concerns through various forms. Thank you all.