■China Economic Times reporter Guo Jinhui
Among the mechanical and electrical products exported by the mainland, electric manned vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells are known as the "new three types" of foreign trade. At the 135th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the "New Three" exhibition area was hot. Leading exports, the "new three" continues to stimulate new momentum for foreign trade and promote the high-quality development of the mainland economy.
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A new force for the growth of foreign trade
In 2023, the total export volume of the "new three" of mainland foreign trade will exceed the trillion yuan mark for the first time. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on April 18, in the first quarter of 2024, the export volume of electric manned vehicles, solar cells and lithium-ion batteries in mainland China increased by 28.5%, 24.7% and 5.9% year-on-year, respectively.
The countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative are actively exploring the direction of mainland enterprises. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in the first quarter of this year, the mainland exported more than 30 billion yuan of photovoltaic products and more than 120,000 renewable energy generating units such as solar and wind power to the countries that jointly built the "Belt and Road". Li Fuyi, an associate researcher at the Institute of Foreign Economic Research of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, told the China Economic Times that the results calculated according to the data of the General Administration of Customs showed that in the first quarter, the mainland's exports of electric manned vehicles to Indonesia, South Korea and Kazakhstan increased by 82 times, 10 times and 2.4 times respectively compared with the same period last year.
"Since the beginning of this year, although affected by factors such as the rising momentum of trade protectionism and increasingly fierce international competition, the mainland's foreign trade 'new three' exports are still showing strong growth and the international market is more diversified. This is not an easy achievement. Li Fuyi said.
The reporter of China Economic Times combed and found that many places closely followed the general trend of foreign trade development and seized the "new three" export opportunities. For example, in the first quarter, Hunan's electric manned vehicle exports were 940 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.6%. In the first quarter, Shandong's foreign trade exports were 2.89 billion yuan, an increase of 90.2%, of which the exports of lithium batteries, electric manned vehicles and photovoltaic products increased by 104.4%, 65.3% and 95.7% respectively. According to this development momentum, Shandong's foreign trade "new three" exports are expected to exceed 10 billion yuan throughout the year, becoming an important force to promote the development of the mainland's foreign trade.
In an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times, Lan Qingxin, director of the BRICS Research Center of the University of International Business and Economics and vice president of the School of International Economics and Trade, believes that the "new three things" are the bright spots of the mainland's foreign trade and exports in recent years, and they are also a growth point. The "New Three Things" fully embodies the achievements of China's technological development, which is well received by consumers around the world, and its international market will continue to expand.
Wei Qijia, director of the Industrial Economy Research Office of the Economic Forecasting Department of the State Information Center, said in an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times that with the deep interpenetration of the mainland's industrial chain and supply chain with the world and its deep integration into the international market, whether it is traditional fields such as machinery manufacturing and automobiles, or emerging fields such as green transformation, digitalization and artificial intelligence, related products have great development potential, which not only enriches global supply and alleviates global inflationary pressure, but also makes great contributions to the global response to climate change and green and low-carbon transformation.
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The growth momentum is promising
While the mainland's foreign trade "new three" has succeeded in the global market, it also faces some challenges. For example, in October 2023, the European Union launched a countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles. In April, the European Commission announced a countervailing investigation into two Chinese solar companies.
In an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times, Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, believes that the global green and low-carbon transformation has become the trend of the times, and it is foreseeable that the global demand for green products represented by the "new three" will maintain a strong momentum in the future, and the "new three" of mainland foreign trade is expected to continue to maintain rapid growth. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the rise of global trade protectionism and unilateralism, the unfair competition of non-market subsidies in some overseas economies, the uncertain prospects of global economic demand, and geopolitical conflicts.
Lan Qingxin believes that foreign countervailing investigations may have a certain adverse impact on the mainland's "new three" exports in the future. Despite this, the "new three" is developed in the international market with advanced technology, relatively low cost, and good applicability to the international market, and is well received by consumers around the world, and this trend will not change.
According to the data, in the first quarter of this year, the export of "new three" products by enterprises in Guangzhou Customs District increased by 57.1% year-on-year, of which 2.45 billion yuan of electric manned vehicles were exported, an increase of 4.3 times year-on-year. According to the statistics of Shanghai Customs, 529,000 cars were exported from Shanghai port in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 30.7%, of which electric manned vehicles accounted for more than 40%.
Li Fuyi expects that the mainland's new energy vehicle exports are expected to continue to expand in the future. On the one hand, benefiting from the increasing attention of developing countries to the development of the new energy industry and the enhancement of consumer purchasing power, the market space for new energy vehicles is huge, and the potential needs to be released urgently. For example, in recent years, ASEAN countries have intensively introduced new policies for green industries, and Malaysian officials plan to build 10,000 public charging facilities across the country by 2025, and achieve electric vehicles to account for 15% of the country's total car sales by 2030. On the other hand, the advantages of domestic policies, industrial support, and technological innovation will help mainland car companies continue to improve their brand benefits and enhance their international competitiveness. In the future, related enterprises will better meet and develop the external market with higher quality products.
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Help cultivate new quality productivity of foreign trade
The rapid development of the "new three" has injected new impetus into the growth of the mainland's foreign trade, and also driven the collaborative innovation and development of upstream and downstream related industries.
"The 'new three' industrial chain ecological group formed by the mainland in the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and other regions has a strong radiation driving role in the development of advanced manufacturing clusters and the construction of a modern industrial system in the mainland. The continuous breakthrough and application of new technologies in the field of 'new three things' will help the mainland enhance its overall scientific and technological innovation and transformation capabilities, improve total factor productivity, and polish the business card of 'Made in China'." Li Fuyi said. She suggested that further targeted, pragmatic and effective support measures should be introduced to help the "new three" enterprises enhance their motivation and open up the market. At the same time, we will further strengthen the standardized management of the industry and promote the high-level opening up of the photovoltaic and lithium battery industries.
Lan Qingxin believes that the "new three" products of foreign trade are themselves high-tech products and a manifestation of green trade. The "new three" adapts to the trend of innovation and green development, which is not only the inevitable result of the development of new quality productive forces, but also will play a role in promoting the development of new quality productive forces on the mainland. In the future, the mainland should continue to vigorously support the development of the "new three things" in foreign trade. Through comprehensive measures such as fiscal policy, monetary policy, and industrial policy, we will reduce the cost of products, improve the technical content of products, and continuously expand the international market share of the "new three". At the same time, it is necessary to carry out certain research on the subsidy of "new three" products. By adapting to the WTO's subsidy rules, we will respond to relevant foreign investigations. It is also necessary to excavate and expand the domestic market for the "new three" products. Through the development of the "new three things", we will further promote scientific and technological innovation and green and low-carbon transformation.
In Wei Qijia's view, in the future, the "new three" of mainland foreign trade will maintain the overall stability of the quantity, through continuous research and development and innovation, the use of new technologies, new processes, and constantly improve product quality. The simultaneous improvement of the "quantity" and "quality" of these products will make an important contribution to the acceleration of the cultivation and accumulation of new quality productivity in the field of foreign trade. With the advancement of various measures to build a unified national market, the high-end, intelligent and green development of the mainland's manufacturing industry will continue to accelerate, and there is a large space for better development of technology and industrial organization.
Wei Qijia suggested that we should further improve the quality and added value of products, actively participate in the formulation of international standards, and win development advantages by virtue of innovation, quality and brand in terms of management, so as to form our own excellent technology, quality and service capabilities. All these will lay a good foundation for accelerating the formation of new qualitative productivity in the industry. At the same time, it is also necessary to guide all localities to develop relevant industries in accordance with local conditions, do a good job in industrial layout and related planning, and give full play to the regulating role of the market mechanism.
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