The Information Office of the State Council held a press conference at 3 p.m. on March 26, 2024, at which the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced recent data and policies related to production, consumption, import and export, and answered questions from reporters. Let's take a look -
Quick Facts of the Press Conference –
●The consumer market continued to recover and grow steadily, showing three characteristics.
● In the first two months of this year, imports and exports hit a record high for the same period in history.
●Encourage and promote the trade-in of consumer goods such as automobiles and home appliances.
● Accelerate the implementation of large-scale equipment renewal and other policies.
●Infrastructure such as 5G and computing power will be built ahead of schedule.
●Accelerate the development of artificial intelligence-enabled manufacturing industry represented by large models.
Recent developments
Ministry of Commerce: The consumer market continues to recover and grows steadily
It can be summarized into three characteristics:
●Bulk consumption such as automobiles and home furnishings stabilized and improved.
Retail sales of goods increased by 4.6% year-on-year, of which nearly ninety percent of the 16 categories of units above designated size achieved positive growth. Among them, the retail sales of communication equipment increased by 16.2 percent year-on-year, and the retail sales of automobiles increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over the whole of last year. Household consumption also rebounded in varying degrees, with the retail sales of household appliances, furniture and building materials of units above designated size increasing by 5.7 percent, 4.6 percent and 2.1 percent respectively year-on-year.
● The vitality of consumption of services such as catering and tourism has been enhanced.
Driven by the holiday economy, the potential of service consumption has been further released. In the first two months, catering revenue increased by 12.5% year-on-year, an increase of 3.3 percentage points over the same period last year, accounting for 11.7% of the total amount of social zero, and contributing 24.8% to the total growth of social zero. Retail sales of services grew by 12.3%, continuing to maintain double-digit growth.
● New types of consumption, such as digital and green, are booming.
Digital consumption is growing rapidly, in the first two months, the national online retail sales increased by 15.3% year-on-year, of which the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 14.4%, green consumption is very popular, especially new energy vehicles, the retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in the first two months increased by 37.2% year-on-year.
General Administration of Customs: In the first two months of this year, imports and exports of 6.6 trillion yuan hit a record high in the same period in history, and foreign trade got off to a good start
●The scale of import and export is the first in the same period in history. In the first two months of this year, imports and exports reached 6.61 trillion yuan, a record high for the same period in history.
● "Double growth" of exports and imports. Exports increased by 10.3 percent and imports increased by 6.7 percent, which not only reflects the continuous rebound of the mainland's economic development, but also provides a broad market space and cooperation opportunities for enterprises from all over the world.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: In the first two months, the mainland's industrial economy rebounded
There are three main characteristics:
-- Industrial production has accelerated growth. In the first two months, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 7 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points faster than that in December last year.
● Sustained and steady growth in manufacturing investment. In the first two months, manufacturing investment increased by 9.4% year-on-year, private investment in manufacturing achieved double-digit growth, and technological transformation investment increased by 15.1% year-on-year.
● The growth rate of industrial exports has rebounded significantly. According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, from January to February, the total industrial foreign trade of the mainland denominated in US dollars maintained growth. Among them, the exports of machinery, home appliances and other industries have achieved double-digit growth.
Next steps
Ministry of Commerce: Encourage and promote the trade-in of consumer goods such as automobiles and home appliances
Recently, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods" to deploy and carry out the trade-in of consumer goods. At present, we are stepping up research and refinement measures, on the premise of fully respecting the wishes of consumers, to promote the replacement of automobiles with "energy", and gradually increase the proportion of new energy vehicles and energy-saving vehicles in sales; to promote the replacement of household appliances with "intelligence", and to promote the development of household appliances consumption in the direction of intelligence, green and low-carbon; to promote the "renewal" of home decoration and kitchen and bathroom, and to support more stock houses and second-hand houses to implement old house decoration and partial transformation.
Ministry:
Accelerate the development of artificial intelligence-enabled manufacturing represented by large models
This year, the "Artificial Intelligence +" action will be launched to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy, and promote artificial intelligence to empower new industrialization. Continuously optimize the innovation platform network. In accordance with the "Implementation Opinions on the Innovation and Development of Manufacturing Pilot Test" that has been issued, accelerate the construction of modern pilot test capacity, and build a number of national manufacturing innovation centers and test verification platforms. Build a world-leading science and technology park and innovation highland. On the basis of the existing 178 national high-tech zones and 45 national advanced manufacturing clusters, the creation of a national new industrialization demonstration zone will be launched this year to carry out the cultivation and upgrading of advanced manufacturing clusters.
Infrastructure such as 5G and computing power will be built moderately ahead of schedule
We will build infrastructure such as 5G and computing power moderately ahead of schedule to promote the large-scale application of the industrial Internet. At the same time, we will continue to promote the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, actively build smart factories, implement special actions for digital empowerment of small and medium-sized enterprises, accelerate the empowerment of digital technology, and promote the development of the manufacturing industry towards digitalization, networking and intelligence.
Promote the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries such as the new generation of information technology, intelligent networked vehicles, aerospace, and biomanufacturing
Cultivate and expand emerging industries. Promote the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries such as the new generation of information technology, intelligent networked vehicles, aerospace, and biomanufacturing, and accelerate the development and large-scale application of the Beidou industry. At the same time, we will build future industries ahead of time. In January this year, our ministry and six departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries" to strengthen forward-looking planning and policy guidance for future industries, and accelerate the development of future industries around the main battlefield of manufacturing.
Accelerate the implementation of policies such as large-scale equipment renewal
In accordance with the deployment of the State Council's "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods", focusing on promoting new industrialization, taking large-scale equipment renewal as the starting point, implementing technological transformation and upgrading projects in the manufacturing industry, focusing on digital transformation and green upgrading, and promoting the high-end, intelligent and green development of the manufacturing industry.
General Administration of Customs: "One increase and one decrease, one excellent and one strong" to better serve foreign trade "quality and quantity stability"
In accordance with the deployment arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, this year, the Customs will continue to focus on improving the quality of policy measures and the level of customs supervision services, and make practical moves and seek practical results. Last week, we held a deployment meeting for the special action to promote cross-border trade facilitation, and launched 33 reform and innovation measures to benefit enterprises and people.
In general, this year, we will better serve foreign trade through the policy "combination of one increase and one decrease, one excellent and one strong", and the "quality and quantity are stable".
"Increase" means to increase convenience and improve the level of trade facilitation. Including vigorously promoting the construction of smart customs, improving the efficiency of customs clearance of goods in the whole chain of import and export, expanding the "single window" function of international trade, and accelerating the international mutual recognition of "Authorized Economic Operator" (AEO), etc., we will also host the global AEO conference in May, with the aim of promoting more simplified procedures, more efficient customs clearance, and more convenient trade.
"Reduction" means to reduce costs and help enterprises reduce burdens and fees. Fully release policy dividends such as RCEP and other free trade agreements and voluntary disclosure, improve the level of benefits enjoyed by enterprises, and continue to standardize the charging behavior of import and export links.
"Excellent" means excellent service and optimization of the business environment of the port. In due course, more policies and measures of "one enterprise, one policy" and "one industry, one policy" will be introduced, and through the re-strengthening of policy measures, we will go all out to help enterprises expand the market and seize orders, and use the certainty of customs supervision services to deal with the uncertainty of changes in the foreign trade situation.
"Strong" means to strengthen innovation and cultivate new momentum for foreign trade. At present, the industrial foundation, factor endowment and innovation ability of the mainland's foreign trade development are constantly improving, and the pace of customs innovation is also accelerating. On 9 February, the Master Plan for the Construction of the Shanghai Oriental Hub International Business Cooperation Zone was approved, on 1 March, the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was officially closed for operation, and the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port was in full swing and progressing in an orderly manner. We will continue to focus on supporting the construction of open platforms, supporting the development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce and bonded maintenance, and vigorously carry out innovation in the customs supervision system, so as to stimulate new momentum and shape new advantages of foreign trade with new models of supervision services.
Source: Chinese government website