China to Take Steps to Steady Foreign Trade, Commerce Minister Says
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  May 18 2020
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China to Take Steps to Steady Foreign Trade, Commerce Minister Says China to Take Steps to Steady Foreign Trade, Commerce Minister Says

(Yicai Global) May 18 -- China is facing unprecedented challenges in its foreign trade this year because of a huge drop in international market demand from the Covid-19 pandemic and the country will act to stabilize the growth of foreign trade, Zhong Shan, its commerce minister, said at a press conference today.

Companies have run into difficulties such as tight budgets, fewer orders, and higher risk in industrial and supply chains amid the virus, Zhong said. China has therefore accelerated export rebates by shortening the whole process to around one week from its previous more than 10 days and expanded the scale of credit to firms and the coverage of credit insurance. The government has also encouraged export firms to sell their products in the local market, and export firms’ domestic sales jumped 17 percent last month.

Foreign trade firms must also optimize their positioning in the international market. Demand in some countries has dropped because of the virus, but other markets are also on offer. China’s total imports and exports fell about 5 percent in the first four months as those from and to the EU, the US and Japan declined, but shipments out of and into members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route rose against the downtrend.

The trade in goods between China and countries along the BRI route grew around 1 percent in yuan terms in the January to April period from a year earlier, and China’s non-financial direct investment in these countries climbed 13.4 percent as measured in US dollars, per data, which show China-ASEAN trade totaled CNY1.35 trillion (USD190 billion), up 5.7 percent and making up almost 15 percent of the nation’s total foreign trade value.

The country is also hastening the development of cross-border e-commerce by increasing the number of comprehensive pilot zones for this trade to 105 from 59.

“China is also expanding imports while growing exports by preparing for the 3rd China International Import Expo,” Zhong noted. This year’s fair will take place in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10. The event will be larger than before, its preparation is going smoothly and is well underway, stated Wang Bingnan, the country’s vice commerce minister.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   export,foreign trade,CIIE,policy