He Yadong: Members of the press, good afternoon. Welcome to MOFCOM Regular Press Conference. I have no announcements to make today and would like to take your questions.

The floor is open for questions.

CGTN: Customs statistics show that in the first eleven months of the year, China’s imports and exports stood at RMB 37.96 trillion, on a par with that of last year. The end of the year is high season for foreign trade. What’s MOFCOM’s assessment of China’s foreign trade this year? What’s your expectation for next year?

He Yadong: Since this year, China’s foreign trade has bucked the trend and shown strong resilience despite sluggish external demand, falling prices and last year’s high base. Monitoring by MOFCOM, Customs and key provinces and municipalities indicates that the year-end performance of trade has basically maintained the momentum of Q4. We have confidence in the overall stability of trade scale and international market shares to meet the annual goal of promoting stability and upgrading quality.

For 2024, we should see favourable conditions build up for the Chinese economy and foreign trade as well as the uncertainties and instabilities in external environment. On the one hand, the world economy is making a difficult recovery with the rebound in global trade painfully slow. UNCTAD forecasts that in 2023, global trade value in goods will fall by 7.5% and that 2024 will be highly uncertain and pessimistic overall. Geopolitical spillover and increasing trade protectionist restrictions, among other unfavourable impacts have continued. On the other hand, the long-term positive fundamentals of the Chinese economy haven’t changed, with the dividends of opening up showing continuously and potentials of new products and business types unleashed in foreign trade. We are confident that with the support of the policy package to stabilize the economy and foreign trade and the joint efforts of foreign trading companies, China’s foreign trade will maintain the stabilizing and upward trend. Thank you.

Shanghai Securities News: Since this year, some overseas institutions have been keenly hyping China’s falling appeal for foreign investment, spreading pessimism and talking down the Chinese economy. What’s MOFCOM’s perspective on FDI volatility?

He Yadong: There’s widely shared concern about FDI volatility. I’ve responded many times. The cause for FDI volatility is multi-fold, including economic and non-economic factors. FDI volatility also needs to be viewed from multiple perspectives.

Vertically speaking, China’s FDI remains at a historical high. From 2019 to 2021, China’s FDI attraction broke records for three years in a row. From January to November, 2022, actually utilized foreign investment reached RMB 1.16 trillion, the highest level over the same period on record. Given the high base in the first half of the year, it’s only normal for the FDI to fluctuate from January to November. Meanwhile, RMB 1.04 trillion in FDI attraction is still a historical high.

Horizontally speaking, global cross-border investment has been in a slump in recent years. An UNCTAD report shows that in 2022, global cross-border FDI dropped by 12.4% year-on-year and continued to contract in 2023. Since this year, multinationals have been following one another to China for visits and meetings, showing a strong interest in investing in China. From January to November, there were 48000 newly incorporated foreign-invested enterprises in China, up 36.2% year-on-year, testifying to the FDI momentum in China.

Structurally, as multinationals re-position their investment, China’s FDI structure keeps optimizing. From January to November, hi-tech industry attracted RMB 386.65 billion in FDI, accounting for 37.2% of the national total, 1.1 percentage points higher than the level of 2022. In breakdown, medical equipment and instrumentation manufacturing and electronics and communications equipment manufacturing registered growth of 27.6% and 5.5% respectively, and research and development and design reported 9.1% in FDI growth.

On the whole, the long-term stable and positive fundamentals of the Chinese economy haven’t changed. We will stay committed to high-level opening up. As the foreign investment policies show effects gradually, the Chinese market will be event more magnetic to foreign investment. Thank you.

SETV: The US Department of Commerce recently said that it will launch a new survey of American semiconductor supply chain and the defense industry in order to reduce the so-called “national security risks posed by China”. The survey will focus on the use and procurement of traditional Chinese-made chips in key US industries to assess to what extent its semiconductor supply chain is dependent on Chinese chips. What is your comment?

He Yadong: The semiconductor industry is highly globalized, and any behavior that violates the market rules and fragments the global semiconductor market will not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, but also affect semiconductor enterprises in various countries, including those in the United States, hence disrupting the global industrial and supply chains. China will closely follow the trend and impact of relevant US measures and resolutely safeguard its own interests. thank you.

Economic Daily: We have noted that MOFCOM unveiled the assessment and evaluation of the comprehensive development of national economic development zones in 2023. Can you brief us on that? What are the next steps to promote the development of national economic development zones?

He Yadong: As important pacesetters of China’s opening up, the national economic development zones have been playing a trailblazing and leading role. According to a recently released assessment and evaluation report, in 2022, the GDP of the 230 national economic development zones reached RMB14 trillion, up 5.6% year on year, accounting for 12% of the China’s total. The paid-in FDI amounted to USD43.2 billion, up 11.5% year on year, accounting for 23% of the country’s total. Imports and exports totaled RMB10.3 trillion, up 15% year on year, accounting for 25% of the country. In general, the main indicators of the national economic development zones have maintained growth with a rate higher than the national average, and the proportion further increased, making important contributions to consolidating the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment.

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the first national economic development zones. We will take national economic development zones to a new level. First, stocktaking. On the basis of taking stock of and making public the 40 years of development experience and achievements, we will strengthen macro guidance and promote high-level opening up and high-quality development. Second, differentiated guidance. We will support the national economic development zones in the eastern region in playing a main role in consolidating the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment, improve the capacity of those in the central and western regions to undertake industrial transfer, and promote innovation and upgrading of such zones in the northeastern region. Third, dynamic management. We will establish a long-term mechanism to improve the full-cycle management of upgrading, assessment, and exit, and comprehensively improve the quality and level of development. Thank you.

Economic Information Daily: With New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival approaching, what steps will MOFCOM take to ensure supply and promote consumption during the holiday?

He Yadong: New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival are important traditional festivals in our country and a season of consumption for Chinese people. MOFCOM will implement President Xi Jinping’s important instructions in earnest and follow through the requirements by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, ensure the supply of daily necessities, and stage a series of activities to promote consumption during the holidays so that people can enjoy a safe and happy holiday. We will focus on the following three areas:

First, ensuring the supply during the holiday. We will provide guidance for localities to strengthen the organization of the supply of daily necessities, enhance the connection between production and marketing, and enrich the supply of commodities. We will focus on assisting the commerce departments in Gansu and Qinghai in accelerating the recovery of commercial outlets in the quake-hit areas. We will prepare for the release of meat and other reserve commodities based on the low temperature weather and the needs of the disaster areas, as well as the changes in market supply and demand. We will strengthen communication and cooperation with transportation and other departments to keep the supply network unimpeded. We will encourage key stores to extend business hours appropriately and optimize services for the people. E-commerce and food delivery platforms and express delivery enterprises are encouraged to improve personnel rotation plans, etc., to ensure timely delivery.

Second, organizing consumption promotion activities. In the first quarter of 2024, we will launch special activities such as the national online Lunar New Year’s shopping festival, time-honored brands carnival, and National Consumption Promotion Month with the theme of “China-chic”. At the same time, there will also be novel activities with features of different places to create a strong atmosphere for a shopping spree during the holiday.

Third, strengthening market monitoring. According to the data of the market operation monitoring system of the Ministry of Commerce, the purchase, sale and storage of daily necessities in various wholesale markets and supermarkets have increased recently, the vegetable prices in the areas affected by low temperature rain and snow in the north increased, the price of eggs decreased slightly, and the price of other varieties been generally stable. During the festival, MOFCOM will launch the daily market monitoring system for important daily necessities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, pay close attention to the market operation, strengthen the analysis of the consumer market situation and trends, and provide sound information guidance to ensure the smooth operation of the market during the holiday. Thank you.

He Yadong: The New Year is around the corner. Thank you for your strong support for our work over the past year. I wish you all a happy New Year.

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