In the first four months, the scale of import and export of goods reached a record high in the same period in history, the quality and quantity were stable, and the new momentum of foreign trade was surging (the economy started steadily and continued to pick up)

　　Foreign trade is an important engine for economic growth and a key hub for smooth domestic and international dual circulation.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Promote the innovative development of foreign trade, and constantly consolidate and expand the international market. ”

　　In a critical year, promoting the quality and quantity of foreign trade is the proper meaning of high-quality development and high-level opening-up. This year's "Government Work Report" proposed: "promote the quality and quantity of foreign trade to stabilize", "promote the healthy development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce, optimize the layout of overseas warehouses, support the upgrading of processing trade, and expand new growth points such as intermediate goods trade and green trade".

　　Focusing on promoting the high-quality development of foreign trade, all regions and departments continue to introduce new policies and measures to help foreign trade enterprises enhance their momentum, open up markets, and promote the scale of foreign trade import and export to a new level. In the first quarter, the total import and export value of the mainland's trade in goods was 10.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%, and the growth rate hit a new high in six quarters. In the first four months, the total value of imports and exports of goods in the mainland was 13.81 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%, and the scale hit a record high in the same period in history.

　　The scale is stable, the quality is rising, and there are bright spots in the good momentum

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "China will accelerate the development of new business forms and models such as cross-border e-commerce, and cultivate new momentum for foreign trade. ”

　　Observing the vitality of foreign trade, the Canton Fair is a good window. From April 15th to May 5th, the 135th Canton Fair, known as the "foreign trade barometer", was successfully held.

　　"We specialize in robot laser welding, and this exhibition at the Canton Fair has brought the latest laser welding technology." Peng Xuezhou, head of Zhejiang Innovation Laser Equipment Co., Ltd., introduced that the new technology improves the welding efficiency by 5 to 10 times, and once it is exhibited, it attracts many merchants, and it gets an intention order of 5 million US dollars on the first day. In the first phase of the Canton Fair, a total of 31 companies participated in the exhibition in Shangyu District, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, with a total order volume of more than 18 million US dollars. In the first quarter, Shangyu District achieved foreign trade exports of 13.294 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%.

　　In the Canton Fair Complex, walking through the booths and witnessing the negotiations, the vitality and resilience of the mainland's foreign trade are clearly visible. Customs data also confirms this: in the first quarter, the scale of foreign trade import and export exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time in the same period in history.

　　Behind the steady progress, the promotion of stability, and the scale to a new high, the characteristics of quality improvement are gradually emerging.

　　The new business format has run out of "acceleration". Recently, Brandon, an American importer engaged in cross-border e-commerce trade, came to Guangzhou, Guangdong. Previously, through Ali International Station, Brandon sold children's toys produced in China to the United States, with an annual revenue of about 20 million US dollars. "This year, we plan to expand 25 new categories such as suitcases and outdoor tents, and our target revenue will increase by 20% year-on-year." Brandon said that China's cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, opening a new door for overseas merchants to purchase Chinese goods.

　　Zhu Siqiao, an associate researcher at the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in the first quarter, the mainland's cross-border e-commerce import and export was 577.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. Cross-border e-commerce has become an important engine for global trade growth due to its advantages such as online transactions, contactless delivery, and short transaction chains.

　　New markets broaden the circle of friends. Recently, a batch of laptops from Dafeng (Chongqing) Computer Co., Ltd. were successfully cleared by Chongqing Customs and will be exported to the East Asian market. In the first quarter, Chongqing exported 1.841 million laptops to other member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, and a value of 6.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%.

　　In the first four months, the mainland's imports and exports to the "Belt and Road" countries increased by 6.4% year-on-year. In the first quarter, imports and exports to other RCEP member countries increased by 2.7% year-on-year. "Since the RCEP came into effect more than two years ago, the trade costs between the mainland and member countries have been further reduced, and the regional industrial and supply chains have become safer and more stable." Zhu Siqiao said.

　　New products unleash new potential. "In the first quarter, the company's overseas orders were signed more than 1 GW, doubling the same period last year. Our new photovoltaic products have increased the module power to more than 700 watts, which meets the pursuit of economy for overseas large-scale ground-mounted power stations. Xing Guoqiang, the relevant person in charge of Tongwei Co., Ltd., said.

　　At present, green trade has become a new engine of growth, and China's exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products continue to grow.

　　Consolidate market advantages, and expect to be good and confident

　　A few days ago, the WTO released the 2023 global trade in goods data. According to the data, in 2023, China's international market share of exports will be 14.2%, and the international market share of imports will be 10.6%.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "In the direction of digitalization and greening, we will further enhance the status of the international division of labor and move towards the middle and high end of the global value chain." ”

　　The person in charge of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce said that China has maintained its position as the largest country in trade in goods for seven consecutive years, and has maintained the world's first export and the second largest import for 15 consecutive years. The Ministry of Commerce will implement comprehensive policies to support enterprises to explore diversified markets, further promote the healthy development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce, actively expand the import of high-quality products, and hold key exhibitions such as the CIIE and the Canton Fair, so as to promote the high-quality development of foreign trade.

　　The vitality of foreign trade is insufficient, and the main body of business has the most right to speak. In the first quarter, the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in the mainland increased by 8.8% year-on-year, of which the number of private enterprises increased by 10.4% year-on-year, accounting for 85.3%.

　　A few days ago, a batch of glycosylated hemoglobin detection kits from Nanjing Lanyu Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was successfully exported to Moldova after being inspected and released by Jinling Customs, a subsidiary of Nanjing Customs. "In the first quarter of this year, Lanyu Biotech exported a total of 63 batches of biomedical products, with a value of more than 3.6 million yuan." Li Jialing, manager of the business department of Lanyu Biotechnology, said that in recent years, the company has increased R&D investment, and its products have been exported to nearly 100 countries and regions, which can meet the needs of more than 30,000 medical institutions and more than 200 million family diagnosis and treatment.

　　"As far as Chile in the south of the world, Norway in the north, and Southeast Asian countries near the doorstep, private enterprises dare to fight hard in developing markets, and do business all over the world, and private enterprises have just the right momentum and prospects in the field of foreign trade." Lv Daliang, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis, said.

　　Foreign trade enterprises are expected to continue to improve, and their confidence is increasing. Guo Tingting, vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced a questionnaire survey on more than 20,000 exhibitors at the Canton Fair recently, and the survey results showed that the proportion of enterprises with increased or flat orders in hand reached 81.5%, an increase of 16.8 percentage points over the previous session, and enterprises are more enthusiastic in exploring the international market.

　　Driven by the hard work and enterprising of foreign trade enterprises, the structure of foreign trade products has been continuously optimized, and the international competitive advantage has been continuously consolidated. In the first four months, the mainland exported 4.62 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, accounting for 59.2% of the total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its parts increased by 9.7% year-on-year, integrated circuits increased by 23.5% year-on-year, and automobiles increased by 24.9% year-on-year.

　　"A large number of Chinese foreign trade enterprises focus on improving their independent research and development capabilities, promoting digital, intelligent and green transformation, and are forming the innovative advantages of Chinese manufacturing." Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

　　To tap the growth potential, the policy is favorable and has stamina

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "China will tap the growth potential of foreign trade and make positive contributions to promoting the growth of international trade and the development of the world economy." ”

　　Since the beginning of this year, with the support of the mainland's economic fundamentals, the mainland's foreign trade has made a strong start and has a good momentum. Looking forward to the whole year, there are many favorable conditions for promoting foreign trade to achieve the goal of "quality and quantity stability".

　　In the first quarter, GDP increased by 5.3 percent year-on-year, and the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.1 percent year-on-year.

　　"To consolidate the basic market of foreign trade and foreign investment, and promote the 'quality and quantity stability' of foreign trade, the key is to take the road of 'winning by quality' and promote 'quantity stability' with 'quality improvement'." Jin Ruiting, director and researcher of the Institute of Foreign Economic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission, said.

　　Anchor key areas and seek impetus for reform. In March, the General Administration of Customs held a special action deployment meeting to promote cross-border trade facilitation, and put forward 33 reform and innovation measures to benefit enterprises and people. Wang Lingjun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said that the customs will continue to track the implementation of policies and measures, and at the same time have an in-depth understanding of the expectations and demands of enterprises and local governments, and focus on improving the level of trade facilitation, optimizing the business environment at ports, helping enterprises reduce burdens and fees, and cultivating new momentum for foreign trade.

　　Anchor key markets and open up to the outside. Jin Ruiting suggested that through the vigorous implementation of the pilot free trade zone promotion strategy, expand the global network of high-standard free trade zones and other major measures, continue to expand the foreign trade "circle of friends". Since the beginning of this year, the mainland has successfully held the fifth round of negotiations on the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 and signed an early harvest arrangement for the free trade agreement with Honduras.

　　Anchor the key direction and increase to innovation. With strong R&D and production capacity, the intelligence and greening of China's home appliances have brought a better experience to consumers around the world. On the construction sites of major overseas projects, Chinese construction machinery products with reliable and durable, strong performance and complete after-sales service abound; In the field of industrial robots, China is also an important exporter and application market, and the export growth rate of industrial robots will reach 86.4% in 2023...... Chinese goods are widely welcomed around the world, relying on innovation and quality.

　　Wang Lingjun said that on the whole, unfavorable factors such as geopolitical tensions and trade protectionism still exist, bringing certain difficulties and challenges to foreign trade, but it should also be noted that global trade is showing signs of stabilization and improvement, and the WTO predicts that global trade in goods will increase by 2.6% year-on-year in 2024. According to the results of the China Customs Trade Sentiment Survey, the proportion of enterprises reflecting an increase in export and import orders in March increased significantly from the previous month.

　　Against the backdrop of the mainland's economic fundamentals continuing to improve, all regions and departments have made joint efforts to pioneer and innovate, and are fully confident that they will achieve the goal of "quality and quantity stability" of foreign trade throughout the year.

Source: People's Daily