He Yadong: Friends from the media, good afternoon. Welcome to MOFCOM’s regular press conference. I have two pieces of information to brief you first.

One is the roundtable on the implementation of the 24-point guidelines for foreign investment.

Last July, the State Council issued the “Opinions on Further Optimizing the Environment for Foreign Investment and Intensifying Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment”, or the 24-point guidelines for foreign investment, which foreign-invested enterprises have widely welcomed and closely followed. We have evaluated the implementation recently to see how effective it is since the document was introduced more than half a year ago. We plan to hold a roundtable for foreign enterprises on February 28 to provide more detailed interpretation. We would like to invite foreign business associations and FIEs in China to participate. Relevant information will be released in a timely manner. Please stay tuned for more updates.

Another is the 2024 Chinese New Year Online Shopping Festival.

On February 17, the one-month 2024 Chinese New Year Online Shopping Festival came to a successful end. The Year of Consumption Promotion got off to a good start with 12 key activities launched successfully. According to the monitoring of key e-commerce platforms by the commerce big data platform, during the CNY Online Shopping Festival, China’s online retail sales were about 1.2 trillion yuan, an average daily increase of nearly 9% over last year. Compared with previous years, this year's CNY Online Shopping Festival has the following features.

First, greater participation. More than 300 supporting activities were held, participated by more than 1,000 e-commerce and distribution enterprises. Shanghai, Guangxi and Shaanxi gave full play to their geographical advantages to bring high-quality products from ASEAN and Central Asia to the Chinese market via activities such as the ASEAN E-commerce Week, CNY Shopping Festival on China-Europe Railway Express and promoting export of Guangxi’s goods, which have not just introduced quality products from overseas but also boosted exports to other countries.

Second, stronger atmosphere of the Spring Festival. Tianjin, Jiangsu and Heilongjiang worked with e-commerce platforms to offer discounts. Beijing, Hubei and Gansu organized featured events. Shanghai, Yunnan and Fujian provided discounts for tourists.

Third, more trade-ins. This year’s CNY Online Shopping Festival focuses on three “trade-in” themes. For household items, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Jiangxi joined hands with main e-commerce platforms to allow trading-in of more than 1,000 kinds of used home appliances, covering over 200 categories. Online sales of energy-saving central air conditioners and foldable phones soared by 262.1% and 131.2% respectively. In terms of Chinese fashion brands, Anhui, Shaanxi and Shanghai launched special events for time-honored Chinese brands, with online sales of Tang clothing and jewelry up by 261% and 204.2%, respectively. In terms of new scenes, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Hebei used AR/VR technology to build large fairs on the cloud, where consumers can feel the lively atmosphere of the traditional fairs online.

Since 2021, MOFCOM has held the Chinese New Year Online Shopping Festival for four years in a row, which has become an online promotion brand and a strong driving force for consumption during the Spring Festival. Next, we will hold a series of promotion activities such as the Brand and Quality Online Shopping Festival, Farmers’ Harvest Festival via Digital Commerce and Silk Road E-commerce Festival to better meet the expectations of consumers.

So much for the announcements. I would like to take your questions. The floor is open.

Xinhua News Agency: The WTO will hold its 13th Ministerial Conference at the end of this month. What are China’s expectations for MC13?

He Yadong: MC13 will take place in Abu Dhabi from February 26 to 29. Minister Wang Wentao will lead the Chinese delegation to attend the conference.

At present, the world economy is recovering slowly. Trade growth still lacks momentum. Global challenges such as food and energy security, climate change and unbalanced development are on the rise. As an important pillar of multilateralism and a main arena for global economic governance, the WTO can make positive contributions to addressing common challenges facing the world.

China advocates economic globalization that benefits all, practices true multilateralism, firmly upholds the multilateral trading system, fully and deeply participates in the reform of the WTO, and supports the WTO in playing a better role. MC13 is the first ministerial conference since the launch of the WTO reform. China is ready to strengthen cooperation with all parties to push for more practical outcomes at the conference. Thank you.

The Paper: Recently, the Ministry of Commerce has published, alongside eight other departments, the opinions to support the healthy development of new energy vehicle trade and cooperation, improve import and export regulations, and properly address foreign trade restrictions. What specific measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to support the development of NEV trade?

He Yadong: Developing new energy vehicles is in line with the global trend of green and low-carbon transformation. As a major producer and consumer market of new energy vehicles in the world, China has not only manufactured NEVs to meet the needs of domestic consumers, but also consumers around the world. China’s NEV exports have increased year by year, making important contributions to global green development.

In order to promote high quality trade and cooperation of NEVs, the Ministry of Commerce, along with eight other departments, has issued the Opinions on Supporting the Healthy Development of New Energy Vehicle Trade and Cooperation, which contains 18 policies and measures in six aspects in accordance with the principles of WTO rules, including measures to improve international operation ability, international logistics system, strengthen financial support, optimize trade promotion activities, create a good trade environment, and bolster risk prevention capabilities.

In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with related departments and localities to implement the policies. We will unveil supporting measures, improve logistics, finance and other systems to support trade cooperation, strengthen cooperation with other countries for low-carbon development, build a fair, stable, inclusive and convenient environment for automobile trade, and contribute to the green economic and social transformation and global low-carbon development. Thank you.

CGTN: During its recent visit to Spain, the Chinese delegation said that China regards Spain as a good and reliable partner in the EU. China has announced that it will lift restrictions on the export of deboned beef from Spain for cattle under 30 months of age. Spain is welcome to participate in the CIIE, CICPE and CIFTIS to promote more high-quality exports to China. How will the Ministry of Commerce promote trade in meat and other areas between China and Spain?

He Yadong: Practical cooperation is the internal driving force for the development of China-Spain relations. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, bilateral trade has bucked the trend and expanded from USD37.9 billion in 2020 to USD48.6 billion in 2023. China is now Spain’s largest trading partner outside the EU.

More and more high-quality and specialty agricultural products are exported from Spain to China and served on the tables of the Chinese people, thanks to platforms such as the CIIE and CICPE. Spain has participated in the CIIE in the past six years and the CICPE in the past three years. An average of 47 exhibitors from Spain participated in the CIIE every year, with a total exhibition area of 25,000 square meters, ranking among the top. The Spanish ham, red wine and other products exhibited during the Expo have been welcomed by Chinese consumers and become better known in the Chinese market.

Going forward, China will continue to deepen win-win cooperation with Spain. We encourage more Spanish companies to promote their products through platforms such as the CIIE, CICPE and CIFTIS, strengthen exchanges with Chinese business partners, and make good use of China-Europe freight trains, cross-border e-commerce and other channels to deepen trade exchanges and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

We also welcome more high-quality and specialty products from other countries, so that they can benefit from China's huge market.

The Cover: It is reported that in March this year, China is expected to remove the anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine that was imposed in 2021. What is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce?

He Yadong: On November 30, 2023, at the request of the Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated, the Ministry of Commerce initiated a review investigation into the anti-dumping and counter-veiling measures against Australian wine in accordance with the law. At present, the Ministry of Commerce has received comments from a number of interested parties, and completed the distribution and collection of questionnaires. MOFCOM will proceed with the investigation in accordance with the law, conduct a comprehensive review of the claims and evidence of all interested parties, fully protect the interests of all parties, and make objective, fair and impartial rulings. Thank you.

National Business Daily: Data of the Ministry of Commerce showed that sales of major retail and catering enterprises increased by 8.5% during the Spring Festival compared with last year on a comparable basis. Could you tell us the highlights of the consumer market in the Year of the Dragon? What’s the outlook on the consumption trend in the first quarter this year?

He Yadong: The Spring Festival is an important traditional festival and a peak shopping season. This year, the Spring Festival holiday spanned eight days. The consumer market, characterized by strong festive atmosphere, vitality and popularity, witnessed a rapid growth and was off to a good start. The main highlights are as follows:

First, rich activities. The Ministry of Commerce held activities such as the National Online New Year Shopping Festival, Time-honored Brands Carnival, and Chinese Fashion Products Festival, and encouraged local governments to organize various forms of consumption promotion campaigns that suit local conditions. Major business districts were brimming with vitality. Traffic and turnover of the national demonstration pedestrian streets increased by 32.9% and 36.1%.

Second, there were numerous highlights in retail sales. During the Spring Festival, festival goods, domestic fashion products, green and intelligent products were among the best sellers. Major retailers monitored by the Ministry of Commerce witnessed growth in sales of gold, silver and jewelry, sports and entertainment supplies and communication equipment by 23.8%, 15.6% and 10.4%.

Third, service consumption grew rapidly. Sales of major catering enterprises monitored by MOFCOM increased by about 17% year-on-year. Domestic tourists spent 632.687 billion yuan on their trips, up 47.3% year on year. Box office reached 8.016 billion yuan, a record high for the Spring Festival.

Forth, new growth drivers of consumption were released. Green and healthy consumption grew rapidly. Major e-commerce platforms monitored by MOFCOM witnessed growth in instant sales by 32.2% year-on-year. The sales of green and organic food in some large supermarket chains increased by nearly 20%. The sales of cycling and skiing equipment on some e-commerce platforms increased by more than 50%.

Fifth, rural consumption was effectively stimulated. During the Spring Festival this year, many people chose to return to their hometowns for family reunion, driving consumption of rural food, tourism, and agricultural products. Major e-commerce platforms monitored by MOFCOM saw rural retail sales increase by 16.1% year on year.

In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work on the campaigns of the “Year of Consumption Promotion”, implement various policies and measures to stimulate consumption. Tonight, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei will jointly hold the launching ceremony of the “National Consumption Promotion Month 2024”. Considering the Spring Festival consumption season and effect of numerous policies and measures, the consumer market is expected to maintain steady growth in the first quarter. Thank you.

Reuters: The European Union has launched an investigation into subsidies received by Chinese train maker CRRC Qingdao Sifang. The European Commission said there were “signs that indicate that the company received market-distorting subsidies from a foreign country. What is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce? What impact will it have?

He Yadong: China has noted the announcement of the European Commission to launch an in-depth investigation into the so-called subsidy issue of a Chinese company bidding for a project in Bulgaria. China is gravely concerned about this issue. We hope that the EU can strictly abide by WTO rules, respect market principles, use Foreign Subsidy Regulations with prudence, conduct investigations in an open and transparent manner, and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies and jointly contribute to the overall China-EU economic and trade cooperation. Thank you.

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