He Yadong: Friends from the press, good afternoon. Welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce. I have a piece of information to share with you today.

It’s about the “2024 Chinese New Year Online Shopping Festival”, which kicks off today and lasts until February 17, or the eighth day of the first lunar month. As the first big event in the year of consumption promotion, the 2024 CNY Online Shopping Festival will present a string of online promotion activities launched by localities, e-commerce platforms and stores to ring in the Year of the Dragon. This year’s CNY Online Shopping Festival has three features.

First, three new types of consumption in line with the trend of upgrading. Digital, health, green consumption is the new trend and the new concept across the country. Focusing on digital consumption, Beijing will see launching of new products in the fields of computers, communications, and consumer electronics and hold “Science&Technology Shopping Festival”, among other activities. Focusing on health consumption, Shanghai will hold activities such as “super holidays” for winter seasonal needs. Focusing on green consumption, localities will encourage e-commerce enterprises to supply more small servings, launch green packaging initiatives, and advocate a green and environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Second, three major promotional activities to suit the needs of consumers during the festival. Focusing on the home goods, Tianjin will carry out special live streaming sessions on furniture home appliances for sale with discounts. Focusing on the “China chic”, Zhejiang will present more Chinese brands at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Shopping Festival. Focusing on the consumption scenarios, Shaanxi will bring the comprehensive consumer experience to a new level based on activities such as night tour in Xi’an..

Third, three special e-commerce sessions to connect rural and urban areas and domestic and international markets. Jiangxi and Shanxi will give play to the e-commerce industrial clusters with a series of consumption promotion and continuous live-streaming. Fujian, Xinjiang and Gansu launched online agricultural products shopping festival to attract consumers. Guangxi and Henan will bring more options to consumers including products from ASEAN and other countries.

We have got these exciting events coming up. Please stay tuned.

That’s all for the CNY online shopping festival. Now I would like to take your questions. The floor is open.

SETV: Recently, the State Council has approved a general plan for building a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa trade and economic cooperation. Can you brief us on the details and highlights of the plan?

He Yadong: Building a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa trade and economic cooperation is an important initiative announced by President Xi Jinping at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Hunan Province have worked in earnest with relevant ministries and formulated the General Plan for Building the Pioneering Zone for In-depth China-Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation and submitted it to The State Council for approval.

The pioneering zone is an innovative arrangement for deepening China-Africa trade and economic cooperation in the new era. The plan focuses on the strategic positioning of “three zones and one hall”, namely building an innovation zone for new modes of commercial cooperation, a leading zone for in-depth cooperation, a receiving zone for industrial chain cooperation and a “hall” for business exchanges and cooperation. We will encourage active exploration in optimizing China-Africa trade structure, fostering new business forms of trade, deepening production capacity cooperation, promoting innovation in financial and logistics services, and enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges between think tanks, in a bid to build a new platform for the transformation and upgrading of China-Africa commercial cooperation.

MOFCOM will work with Hunan Province to solidly promote the development of the pioneering zone together with relevant ministries. Friends from all walks of life in China and Africa are welcome to follow and take an active part in the development of the pioneering zone. We look forward to their wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of China-Africa commercial cooperation and the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. Thank you.

Phoenix TV: China and Switzerland recently announced the completion of the joint feasibility study on upgrading the China-Switzerland free Trade Agreement and will launch the formal FTA upgrade negotiations as soon as possible. Is there a timetable for this plan? What economic and trade potential can both sides tap?

He Yadong: China and Switzerland will step up further communication, follow respective domestic procedures and strive for an early launch of the FTA upgrade negotiations. The two sides will have in-depth discussions on trade in goods, trade in services, investment, rules and other areas, and work to reach a high-level upgraded FTA that will bring more benefits to the businesses and people of the two countries. Thank you.

International Business Daily: Recently, MOFCOM announced the latest batch of institutional innovation achievements in the ilot free trade zones. Can you brief us on that?

He Yadong: The PFTZ is a comprehensive test ground for reform and opening up. Recently, MOFCOM released and publicized 47 results of pilot free trade zone institutional innovation, including the fifth batch of 23 best practice cases and the third batch of 24 pieces of pilot experience, for all localities to deepen reform and expand opening up in relevant fields.

The cases and experience reflect the latest achievements in institutional innovation made by their respective pilot trade zones in recent years. The fifth batch of “best practice cases” mainly involves trade facilitation, transformation of government functions, factor resource guarantee, and high-quality industrial development. The the third batch of reform pilot experience mainly covers foreign investment access, scientific and technological innovation, environmental protection, finance and other fields.

These institutional innovations will play an exemplary role in the following aspects. First, stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment. For example, the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone has initiated the new mode of “one-stop” supervision of cross-border e-commerce export return, creating good conditions for the development of new foreign trade forms. Second, contribute to high-quality industrial development. For example, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone has implemented the Group Open Innovation (GOI) plan, which has made useful exploration for accelerating the cultivation of new quality productivity and promoting the development of a modern industrial system. Third, strike a balance between high-quality development and high-level security. For example, the China (Anhui) Pilot Free Trade Zone has implemented in-depth reform of linking environmental impact assessment with pollutant discharge permits, simplifying the EIA approval process and improving the level of environmental risk prevention in the whole process. Fourth, serve the national strategy. For example, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have dealt with the same types of matters in line with the same standards and promoted mutual recognition of the results covering 179 government services in their pilot free trade zones without distinction to facilitate the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Up to now, 349 pilot free trade zone institutional innovation achievements have been promoted at the national level, playing an important exemplary and leading role, and facilitating the pilot free trade zones in sharing the reform dividends of reform and opening up. Thank you.

The Cover: It is reported that China has approved the application for exporting spherical graphite materials and finished graphite anode materials of major battery manufacturers in the Republic of Korea, which was welcomed by many South Korean companies and eliminated some of their concerns. How is the approval status of graphite items currently?

He Yadong: It is an international practice to impose export control on certain graphite items. In order to safeguard national security and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations, the Ministry of Commerce has optimized the graphite export control policy, and started implementation on December 1, 2023. I want to stress that China’s export control on graphite items is not an export prohibition. MOFCOM has received applications from a number of enterprises, and has approved qualified exporters in accordance with relevant regulations after review. The interested enterprises have obtained export licenses for dual-use items. MOFCOM will continue to review other license applications in accordance with legal procedures and make decisions on whether or not to grant licenses. Thank you.

Macao Monthly: China-Russia trade reached USD240.1 billion in 2023, meeting the target ahead of schedule. Could you brief us on the priorities of China-Russia economic, trade and investment cooperation in 2024?

He Yadong: China-Russia economic and trade cooperation has been developing steadily in recent years. In 2023, bilateral trade in goods reached USD40.1 billion, an increase of 26.3 percent over the previous year. MOFCOM will work with relevant departments to fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, build on the strong momentum of China-Russia trade and investment cooperation, expand new areas of cooperation such as green and digital trade, accelerate the cultivation of new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce, enhance cross-border connectivity, strengthen cooperation between enterprises and at sub-national levels, and continue to enrich China-Russia economic and trade cooperation. Thank you.

CNBC: The Wall Street Journal reported that some Chinese companies have stopped buying Nvidia chips, but turned to Huawei and other domestic chips. Can the Ministry of Commerce confirm this information? What is the outlook on the development of the domestic chip industry?

He Yadong: Regarding concrete business activities, I’m afraid you need to check with the enterprises. If it’s true, the reason is self-evident. China opposes some countries' interference in the normal semiconductor trade and normal exchanges and cooperation between enterprises. I want to stress that China is a major semiconductor market in the world. Semiconductor companies and products from all over the world are welcome to share opportunities and achieve win-win development in China. Thank you.

Reuters: Is China worried about the escalating situation in the Red Sea? About 60 percent of China’s exports to Europe pass through the Suez Canal. Will China's Ministry of Commerce provide support to the struggling exporters? Will the crisis bring decoupling risks?

He Yadong: The Red Sea is an important route for international trade. We hope the interested parties can give priority to the security and stability of the region and the common interests of the international community, restore and ensure the safety of the sea lanes in the Red Sea, and jointly maintain the smooth flow of the global production and supply chains and the normal order of international trade. We will also strengthen coordination with relevant departments, closely follow the development of the situation, and provide timely support to foreign trade enterprises. Thank you.

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