Since the beginning of this year, China’s foreign trade has withstood multiple pressures. In the context of falling demand in the international market, imports and exports from January to July increased by 0.4% in renminbi terms (the same below). Generally speaking, China’s foreign trade has maintained a steady momentum with strong resilience and ever-growing impetus as reflected in the following three aspects.

From the perspective of the exporters and importers, the quantity and vitality of foreign trade enterprises have both increased. Businesses are the cornerstone of foreign trade development. From January to July this year, more than 550,000 foreign trade enterprises were engaged in import and export, an increase of 5.1%. Among them, 478,000 were private enterprises, accounting for more than 80%, and continued to serve as the stabilizer of foreign trade. Business entities seized opportunities for development by increasing research and development investment, focusing on market segmentation, integrating industrial resources, and establishing digital supply chains. They have shown great resilience and creativity.

From the perspective of products, the export competitiveness of high-quality, high-tech and high value-added products has increased. Exports of the new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium-ion batteries remained robust, with a combined increase of 51% from January to July. The industrial and technological level of China’s NEV industry continues to rise, with ever-improving overseas marketing channels and after-sales service system. China’s NEVs have been exported to more than 160 countries and regions.

From the perspective of business forms, the new driving forces for foreign trade development are released at a faster pace. Cross-border e-commerce grew rapidly, with import and export up by 16% in the first half of the year. Its proportion of overall foreign trade has risen from less than 1% five years ago to about 5%. More than 100,000 entities are involved in cross-border e-commerce business. There are nearly 700 industrial parks of all kinds. New models such as live streaming e-commerce and social e-commerce continue to emerge, becoming an important channel for exports.

Going forward, we will work to reduce the burden and increase the vitality of foreign trade enterprises from the following aspects.

Facilitating cross-border business personnel exchanges. We will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the National Immigration Administration and other agencies to jointly promote the resumption of flights by Chinese and foreign airlines and provide more convenient entry and exit visa services.

Supporting enterprises in participating in exhibitions at home and abroad. We will continue to hold important exhibitions such as the CIIE, the Canton Fair and the CIFTIS. We will step up support for foreign trade enterprise in sending people to participate in overseas exhibitions and carry out overseas marketing.

Strengthening financial services for foreign trade. We will increase export credit support for foreign trade enterprises, especially small, medium and micro ones. We will expand the scope and coverage of export credit insurance to help enterprises expand their markets.

In the near future, we will introduce more special policies and measures to upgrade processing trade and promote trade cooperation in new energy vehicles to ensure the stability and quality of imports and exports. Thank you.