Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you. The floor is now open to questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before asking your questions. 

ThePaper.cn:

In 2022, China's foreign trade withstood the impact of multiple unexpected factors, and the total value of imports and exports exceeded 40 trillion yuan for the first time. What were the highlights of China's foreign trade growth in 2022? Facing a potential international landscape that may include shrinking overseas demand, what measures will MOFCOM take in 2023 to stabilize foreign trade? Thank you.

Li Xingqian:

Thank you for your attention to foreign trade. China's foreign trade experienced an extremely challenging year in 2022. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and thanks to the cooperation between MOFCOM and various localities and departments, foreign trade enterprises rose to challenges and foreign trade performed exceptionally after withstanding various risks and tests. It also successfully achieved the goal of sustaining stability and improving quality. Overall, our foreign trade's outstanding performance in 2022 can be summed up in three respects: reaching a new height, unleashing new impetus and making new contributions. 

Regarding the new height, China's import and export volume in 2022 hit a record high again at 42 trillion yuan, passing the 40-trillion-yuan mark. In U.S. dollar terms, the volume reached $6.3 trillion, which is an unprecedented increase from the ultra-large base reached in 2021. We have remained the largest trader of goods for six consecutive years. While the volume registered sound growth, the structure also continuously improved. The share of imports and exports of private enterprises increased, and their export share rose by 3.2 percentage points to 60.8%. Multilateral and bilateral economic and trade cooperation also made positive progress. Exports to RCEP trading partners grew by 17.5% year on year, 7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate. The proportion of imports and exports to Belt and Road partner countries reached 32.9%, up by 3.2 percentage points from 2021.

Regarding the new impetus, China's high-tech, high-value-added products contributing to the green transformation, such as electric vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium batteries, have become a new growth driver of exports. In 2022, exports of electric vehicles increased by 131.8%, photovoltaic products by 67.8%, and lithium batteries by 86.7%. At the same time, new foreign trade forms, such as cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade, also boomed, with the import and export volume exceeding 3 trillion yuan and accounting for more than 7% of foreign trade.

Regarding the new contributions, domestically, foreign trade made an important contribution to promoting overall economic recovery. Net exports of goods and services contributed to 17.1% of GDP growth last year, driving GDP growth by half a percentage point. There were 598,000 foreign trade enterprises with robust import and export performance last year, an increase of 31,000 compared with 2021, effectively promoting employment stability in the country. Internationally, amid the turbulent global economic and trade environment, China took effective measures to stabilize production and exports, ensuring the smooth operation of the global industrial and supply chains. Meanwhile, we actively expanded imports. China's import volume reached $2.7 trillion last year, making it a key contributor to global economic and trade development.

At present, foreign trade development is facing an extremely severe environment, as the risk of a global economic recession is rising, the growth of external demand is slowing down significantly, and the international supply chain is restructuring at a faster pace. In 2023, we will make greater efforts to maintain volume stability and optimize structural aspects of foreign trade and stabilize the supporting role of exports in the national economy. We prioritize respecting and stimulating the creativity of trade entities. On Dec. 30, 2022, the Foreign Trade Law was amended, which abolished the requirement for certain filing and registration procedures for foreign trade operators. This actually grants all market entities the right to conduct foreign trade, which is a major reform of China's foreign trade management.

To promote high-level opening up, it is important to make foreign trade easier, more convenient, and more rewarding. Therefore, in the new year, we must carefully serve the main body of foreign trade enterprises, optimize and introduce new trade policies, help enterprises reduce costs, increase efficiency and solve problems, and continue to improve the overall competitiveness of foreign trade. Our focus is on implementing the following four measures. The first is to strengthen trade promotion. We will closely connect suppliers and purchasers to stabilize exports and fully resume offline events of a series of domestic export fairs such as the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair). At the same time, we will fully support foreign trade enterprises participating in various overseas professional expos to create more trade opportunities. The second is to expand imports reasonably. We will closely cooperate with our trading partners, leverage the advantages of our super-large market, and expand the imports of high-quality products from other countries so as to stabilize the global trade supply chain. The third is to deepen trade innovation. We will promote the continuous, rapid and healthy development of new business forms, including cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. The fourth is to stabilize the industrial base of foreign trade. We will continue to optimize the industrial structure of foreign trade and, while strengthening general trade, support the gradual relocation of processing trade to the central, western and northeastern regions for upgrading and development. Thank you!