Phoenix TV:
My question is about foreign trade. Faced with a complicated international situation, China's foreign trade has come under a lot of pressure and faced many challenges. What measures have the Ministry of Commerce taken to stabilize foreign trade this year? Will there be more measures in the future? Thank you.
Zhong Shan:
Thanks for your question. As you just said, we have faced many unprecedented challenges in foreign trade both externally and internally. Foreign trade is one of the six main areas the country is aiming to stabilize, the other five being "employment, finance, foreign investment, investment and expectations."
The first measure is to stabilize the volume of foreign trade. We have pushed forward the announcement of new measures to stabilize trade, improve our services and increase trade facilitation. Chinese companies have encountered many difficulties, especially amid economic and trade frictions. However, through technological upgrades and innovation, quality improvement, market expansion and improved marketing network, their competitiveness has constantly increased.
In the first eight months of this year, the import and export volume reached 20.1 trillion yuan, up 3.6%. Globally, China's export growth has outpaced other major economies. The country's foreign trade has achieved generally stable growth.
The second measure is to improve quality. Export of high tech, high quality and high value-added products is increasing rapidly. New foreign trade business forms are also growing rapidly. For example, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce retail sales increased by 20%.
The third aspect is to upgrade the structure. Our export structure is diversifying in the global market. The proportion of exports to the Belt and Road countries has reached 30.1%. The export commodity structure is also becoming optimized. The proportion of exports of machinery and electronic products has reached 57.9% of the total, and that of high-tech products reached 28.3%. Private businesses are also becoming more dynamic with exports accounting for over half of their overall production, around 51.4%.
For the next step, we will focus on the following three areas. First, accelerate the implementation of policy measures to stabilize growth so as to achieve quick results. Second, work hard to improve market diversity. In our efforts to co-build the Belt and Road, we are encouraging Chinese companies to expand into emerging markets and improve their international marketing network. Third, we are seeking high quality development. We will strengthen technological and institutional innovation, and undertake new explorations in regard to business models and business forms. We will strengthen general trade, improve processing trade and develop other forms of trade. At the same time, we will actively expand imports, promote trade in services, and increase our competitive advantages in foreign trade.
CCTV:
We've seen that the Belt and Road Initiative has achieved remarkable results since it was proposed six years ago. The international community has shown increasing support for the initiative. What measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to promote the jointly building of the initiative?
Qian Keming:
Thank you for your question. Over the past six years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Ministry of Commerce has upheld the spirit of the Silk Road, followed the principle of pursuing shared benefits through consultation and collaboration, and pushed forward Belt and Road economic cooperation with great results.
First, trade has kept increasing. The ratio of the trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes in the overall total of foreign trade has kept increasing, and the trade quality has also improved.
Second, bilateral investment has kept expanding. Chinese enterprises have invested over $100 billion in the BRI countries, and the value of contracted projects with relevant countries has exceeded $720 billion. The BRI countries have made investments in China worth $48 billion.
Third, the construction of key projects and industrial parks has made steady progress. A batch of major infrastructure projects, including the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and Gwadar port in Pakistan, have been put into operation. A batch of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have been constructed in countries along the routes, with the investment volume totaling more than $30 billion and creating over 300,000 jobs.
Fourth, the construction of free trade zones (FTZs) has been accelerated. We have signed five free trade agreements with 13 BRI countries. Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have entered a key stage and we have concluded substantial negotiations on an economic and trade cooperation agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.
Fifth, cooperation mechanisms have become more mature. We have set up bilateral investment cooperation working groups with 37 BRI countries, unimpeded trade working groups with five countries, and an e-commerce cooperation working mechanism with 19 countries. We have also signed third-party market cooperation agreements with 14 countries.
Qian Keming:
As for the future plans, we will make efforts in five aspects as follows:
First, we will set up more open platforms. We will gear up our efforts in preparing for the Second China International Import Expo, and ensure that the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and other exhibitions can be organized well, so as to bring more products and services from the BRI countries into the Chinese market.
Second, we will explore better ways to achieve a two-way market flow. We will enhance synergy between development strategies, industries, projects and policies with relevant countries, proactively expand imports, promote balanced trade, help our enterprises develop e-commerce cooperation with relevant countries, negotiate and sign free trade agreements with more countries and upgrade those already signed.
Third, we will continue to build passages for unimpeded trade. We will push forward sound and orderly development of the China-Europe freight train services, proactively explore sources of goods and further facilitate trade. We will also boost construction of new land-sea trade corridors and improve logistics centers, information platforms and supply chains along the routes.
Fourth, we will focus on construction of the major projects. Under the principle of pursuing high standard cooperation to improve people's lives and promote sustainable development, we will launch a batch of major projects with substantial comprehensive benefits satisfactory to all parties, carry out a batch of aid projects that can help boost local social and economic development and improve people's livelihood, and push forward high-quality development of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones. We also plan to conduct third-party market cooperation with more countries, especially developed ones, and some international organizations, to realize the effect of "1+1+1>3."
Fifth, we will improve management services. We will step up guidance for outbound investment in relevant countries and industries, and improve the liaison service platforms for overseas businesses and outbound investment, so as to better regulate business investment and operational behavior. For overseas Chinese businesses, we plan to give full play to the role of the overseas Chinese business chambers or associations to strengthen industrial self-discipline and offer more targeted services to them. Thank you.
