Bloomberg:
I have two questions. First one, you mentioned that the changing U.S. dollar, or the foreign trade volume in U.S. dollars was less than in the yuan. Can you tell us the U.S. dollar value for 2019 trade in exports and imports?
My second question is, with the trade deal signed with the U.S., since China will agree to increase imports from the U.S., can this be done without diverting trade from other countries? Will China have to buy less from other nations to buy more from the U.S., or can China's total trade increase enough to cover the increased imports from the U.S.? Thank you.
Zou Zhiwu
Thanks for your questions. I would like to invite Mr. Huang to answer the first one, and I will answer the second.
Huang Guohua:
Thanks. Based on international rules, Chinese customs calculate the foreign trade value in the yuan. At the same time, we also calculate in U.S. dollars to compare with other countries.
As for your question, we calculate the value of exports and imports both in the yuan and U.S. dollars at the exchange rate released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange every month, instead of the average exchange rate at the end of the year.
Zou Zhiwu:
As Mr. Huang has said, this is consistent with international practice. All countries use their currencies to measure trade statistics. Based on last year's data, there was a decline in China-U.S. trade.
However, since last November and December, imports from the U.S. resumed growth. In particular, imports in December totaled 78.83 billion yuan, an increase of 9.1%, of which agricultural products were valued at 14.1 billion yuan, a two-fold increase; 23,000 vehicles were imported, a 1.5-fold increase. On Dec. 6th, 2019, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council lifted the punitive tariffs on soybeans, pork and other goods purchased from the U.S. Therefore, in December, imports of American soybeans, pork, etc. all increased significantly.
The Sino-U.S. trade friction has indeed brought some pressure on China's foreign trade and foreign trade companies focusing on the American market. Although our exports to the U.S. declined, companies have explored market diversification. Exports to non-U.S. markets have increased, and overall exports continue to grow. We believe that the signing of the phase-one trade agreement will have a positive significance not only for China and the U.S., but also for the whole world, both in terms of trade and future economic development. Will it affect exports from other countries and markets to China after the phase-one trade deal? The answer is no. China has a huge market and multiple trade partners. I believe that with the joint efforts of both sides, China-U.S. economic and trade relations will achieve new progress amid mutually beneficial cooperation, which will promote the trade and economic development of countries around the world. Thank you.
CRI:
Would you like to brief us on the latest trade data between China and other countries along the Belt and Road routes. In addition, what's the highlight of your work? And how will "smart customs" serve the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? Thank you.
Zou Zhiwu:
Thanks for your questions. Firstly, I'll answer your question on China's trade with the BRI countries.
Since the BRI was proposed, the trade scale between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes has expanded continuously. In the 2014-2019 period, the total trade volume exceeded 44 trillion yuan ($6.40 trillion), with an average annual growth of 6.1%. China has become the biggest trading partner of 25 countries along the Belt and Road routes. Last year, trade with BRI countries was 9.27 trillion yuan ($1.35 trillion), an increase of 10.8%, or 7.4 percentage points faster than the country's aggregate foreign trade growth rate. It accounted for nearly 30% of the country's total import and export value, two percentage points higher than 2018. We can see that trade with countries along the Belt and Road routes has maintained robust growth.
We have implemented and promoted cooperation among customs and related supervision departments of countries along the routes in various fields, including inspection and quarantine, so as to facilitate trade and enhance border security. Last year, 198 documents were signed on inspection and quarantine cooperation, among which 89 were related to the BRI countries. As of last year, we had signed Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) agreements with 42 countries and regions, including 18 along the Belt and Road routes, ranking first worldwide. We have expanded the "single-window system" for international trade, connected with the platforms of 25 ministerial-level departments for sharing data, and provided almost 600 enterprise service items in 16 categories such as declaration of cargo, and payment of taxes and fees. We have opened seven "green channels" for fast passage of agricultural and sideline products with Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Mongolia and other countries, promoted China-Europe freight train services along the Belt and Road routes, and carried out coordinated vector surveillance with bordering countries along the routes, aiming to build a "healthy" Silk Road.
Just now, you mentioned "smart customs", which was initiated by Ni Yuefeng, head of the General Administration of Customs, at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April, 2019. With a core of intelligence construction, "smart customs" is a new concept for customs cooperation among different countries, and also a pragmatic measure taken by Chinese customs to serve the BRI's high-quality development. After the white paper on "smart customs" was released, we will further promote international cooperation on innovation and application of new technologies, jointly build information exchanging and sharing platforms with more countries, accelerate the construction and connection of the "single window system", and gain early harvest from pilot cooperation projects of "smart customs" with countries along the routes, in order to realize intelligent supervision, governance and cooperation, facilitate trade connectivity, and inject new impetus to the BRI construction. Thank you.
