Gao Feng: Friends from the press:

Good afternoon. Welcome to MOFCOM’s regular press conference. First I have two announcements to make.

Gao Feng: First, China’s servics outsourcing for the January-November period this year

From January to November this year, Chinese companies undertook service outsourcing contracts worth RMB 1.29779 trillion (the same currency below), and executed RMB 922.6 billion, up by 12.9% and 16.4% respectively. In breakdown, the contractual and executed values for offshore services outsourcing stood at RMB 765.88 billion and RMB 562.99 billion, up by 11.5% and 16.6% year-on-year (in USD terms, the contractual and executed values for services outsourcing were USD 187.86 billion and USD 133.51 billion, up by 10.3% and 13.7% year-on-year. The contractual and executed values for offshore services outsourcing were USD 110.5 billion and USD 81.51 billion, up by 8.2% and 14% year-on-year.)

In terms of structure, from January to November, Chinese companies executed ITO, BPO, KPO contracts worth RMB 260.14 billion, RMB 88.14 billion and RMB 214.71 billion, up by 16.4%, 14.4% and 17.8% respectively. The executed value of offshore IC and electronic circuit design services reached RMB 39.9 billion, up by 54.7%; The executed value of offshore pharmaceutical and biological technology research and development reached RMB 38.74 billion, up by 26.4%.

In terms of market, in the first 11 months, Chinese companies executed offshore services from the US, Hong Kong SAR, the EU, Japan, Singapore, and ROK worth RMB 126.37 billion, RMB 96.85 billion, RMB 89.13 billion, RMB 51.66 billion, RMB 30.86 billion and RMB 29.33 billion, up by 29.4%, 17.6%, 11.1%, 13.9%, 15.7% and 25.8%, accounting for 75.3% of the total executed value of offshore services. Chinese companies executed offshore services from Belt and Road countries worth RMB 99.12 billion, up by 8.1%.

In terms of regions, from January to November, the value of offshore outsourced services provided in the Yangtze River Delta grew by 18.5% year-on-year to RMB 297.92 billion, accounting for 52.9% of the national total. The value of offshore outsourced activities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region grew by 12.5% year-on-year to RMB 40.44 billion. The executed value of offshore services in the GBA Area stood at RMB 77.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. The 31 demonstration cities of outsourcing performed offshore outsourced activities worth RMB 467.6 billion, up 13.7% year-on-year and accounting for 83.1% of the national total.

In terms of entities, from January to November, the value of offshore outsourced services provided by private businesses rose by 25.1% year-on-year to RMB 137.72 billion, 8.5 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate. The foreign-invested enterprises executed offshore outsourced activities worth RMB 251.09 billion, up by 11.9% and accounting for 44.6% of the national total.

In terms of job creation, As of November this year, China’s services outsourcing sector created a total of 12.578 million jobs cumulatively. 8.01 million (63.7%) of these new workers have at least obtained a bachelor’s degree. From January to November, China’s services outsourcing sector created 858,000 million jobs. 509,000 million (59.3%) of these new workers have at least obtained a bachelor’s degree.

Gao Feng: Second, domestic auto consumption in November 2020.

In November this year, the domestic car market witnessed faster recovery and growing demand, driven by the policies to promote auto consumption. Decline of main indicators such as new car sales, used car transaction, and recycled motor vehicles narrowed year on year.

New car sales realized double-digit growth for seven months in a row. 2.847 million new cars were manufactured and 2.77 million new cars were sold, up by 9.7% and 12.6%. New car sales realized double-digit growth for seven months in a row. The cumulative production and sales in the first eleven months were 22.372 million and 22.47 million, down by 3% and 2.9% year on year. The decline was 14 percentage points narrower than that in the first half of the year. 200,000 NEVs were sold in November, up by 104.9% year on year. The cumulative sales of NEV in the past eleven months were 1.109 million, up by 3.9% year on year, entering the positive territory for the first time.

The used car transaction achieved double-digit growth for four months in a row. In November, used car transaction was 1.5738 million, up by 13.7% year on year, registering double-digit growth for four months in a row. The cumulative transaction in the past eleven months was 12.634 million, down by 4.6%. The decline was 15 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year.

Junked motor vehicles are recycled and dismantled more speedily. In November, 253,000 motor vehicles were recycled, up by a record high of 25.2%, maintaining positive growth for six months in a row. From January to November, a total of 2.012 million motor vehicles were recycled, down by 2.1%. The decline was 11.2 percentage points narrower than the first half of this year.

In November, car import fell while car export increased. 107,000 cars were imported, down by 12.3% year on year; 128,000 cars were exported, up by 17.4%. In the first eleven months, total car import was 821,000, down by 15% year on year; the decline was 17.5 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year. Total car export was 955,000, down by 15.8%. The decline was 7.8 percentage points narrower than the first half of the year.

Gao Feng: This is my briefing to you today. Now I’m ready to take your questions.

21st century business herald: The 35th round of China-EU BIT negotiation were held between December 6th and 11th. What’s the focus of this round? What progress has been made? We are two weeks away from the New Year. Is it possible to complete the negotiations by the end of the year as scheduled?

Gao Feng: China and the EU held the 35th round of BIT negotiation between December 6th and 11th. The two teams focused on the remaining issues in the text and lists, and scored important progress. They will keep making efforts toward the goal set by the leaders of the two sides. Thank you.

Bloomberg: Australia has announced that it will file a case against China at the WTO after China imposed tariffs on Australian barley. What’s your comment?

Gao Feng: On December 16th, Australia requested consultations with China under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism about AD and CV measures against Australian barley. The request has been received by China.

Upon the request of domestic industries, MOFCOM has initiated AD and CV investigations against barley import from Australia, and has taken trade remedy measures in accordance with the law.

China has always followed the WTO rules in carrying out trade remedies. It is regrettable that Australia has made the consultation request. We will proceed in accordance with WTO dispute settlement mechanism. Thank you.

Yicai: OECD predicts that global GDP is likely to bounce back to pre-COVID level by the end of next year. But whether this can happen largely relies on China’s growth, and China is expected to contribute over one third to global economic growth in 2021. What’s your comment?

Gao Feng: This year, China has overcome the impact of COVID-19 and brought its economy back to normal. It is expected to be the only one with positive growth among leading world economies. In terms of opening-up, in the first eleven months, China’s import and export grew by 1.8% in RMB terms, or 0.6% in dollar terms. Both are positive growth. The utilized FDI grew by 6.3% in RMB terms, or 4.1% in dollar terms. Outbound investment remained steady. Domestic consumption continues to recover, with rapid growth in the consumption of physical goods and gradual recovery of service consumption. The Chinese economic on the whole is rebounding, with both production and demand on the rise. This has a positive impact on the stability of global industrial chains and supply chains and will promote global economic recovery.

Next year, we are likely to see many instabilities and uncertainties in global economy. The Chinese economy will confront both challenges and favorable conditions, and is likely to return to its potential growth rate. China will continue to build an open economy, and open market wider at a higher level. We are ready to work with all parties to contribute to the recovery and growth of the world economy. Thank you.

Gao Feng: This is the end of today’s press conference. Thank you.

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