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Speakers:

Sheng Qiuping, vice minister of commerce

Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs

Pu Chun, vice minister of the State Administration for Market Regulation

Chairperson:

Shou Xiaoli, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

Date:

May 20, 2022

Shou Xiaoli:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. This is the fifth press conference under the theme of "China in the past decade." Today, we have invited Mr. Sheng Qiuping, vice minister of commerce; Mr. Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs; and Mr. Pu Chun, vice minister of the State Administration for Market Regulation, to brief you on integrating domestic and foreign trade and fostering dual-circulation development, and to take your questions.

Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Sheng for his introduction.

Sheng Qiuping:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Leading Party Members Group of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has been working under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, strengthening the Party's overall leadership in commerce work, and resolutely implementing the decisions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. As a result, China has made historic achievements and transformations in developing its domestic and foreign trade.

In the past decade, new progress has been made in expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption. Consumption represents the final demand. MOFCOM has firmly implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand to boost consumption as a driving force for economic circulation. In 2021, the total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 44.1 trillion yuan, up 110% from 2012, with an average annual growth rate of 8.8%. Consumption has become the primary driving force of economic growth over previous years. The consumption structure has been continuously optimized. In 2021, the per capita consumption of services accounted for 44.2% of total per capita consumption, growing by 4.5 percentage points from 2013. The number of motor vehicles per 1,000 people reached 214, an increase of 1.4 times over 2012. The consumption model has been constantly innovated. In 2021, online retail sales stood at 13.1 trillion yuan, a nine-fold increase over 2012. Rural e-commerce has been booming. The consumption platform has been continuously consolidated, international consumption center cites have been created, and platforms such as the China International Consumer Products Expo have been established to better meet the needs of the people for a better life.

In the past decade, new breakthroughs have been made in developing a modern distribution system. Developing a modern distribution system is a strategic task in the building of a new development paradigm. From day one, MOFCOM has been working hard to advance a modern distribution system and has achieved remarkable results. Weak links have been addressed in rural areas. Under the comprehensive demonstration project of bringing e-commerce to rural areas, support has been offered to a total of 1,489 counties, 1,212 county-level logistics distribution centers have been built, and the online retail sales of agricultural produce reached 422.1 billion yuan in 2021. The construction of county-level commercial service centers has seen initial progress. New features have been fostered in urban commerce. A total of 428 15-minute community life circles have been built, which have created over 500,000 jobs, helped more than 8 million people and pooled 13.5 billion yuan of private investment. Pilot projects for the renovation of pedestrianized shopping streets have been launched. In 2021, the 23 pilot streets saw a year-on-year growth of 10.2% in visits and 16.7% in revenue. Distribution efficiency has been improved. In 2021, the ratio of total social logistics cost to GDP stood at 14.6%, down 3.4 percentage points from 2012.

In the past decade, great strides have been made in the high-quality development of foreign trade. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to foreign trade. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have taken solid steps and used innovative means to maintain the stability of foreign trade, and have reached historic milestones in its development. In 2021, China's trade in goods reached $6.05 trillion and trade in services surpassed $800 billion, up 56% and 70% respectively from 2012. The trade structure has been optimized. In 2021, the proportion of emerging markets, central and western regions, private enterprises, and general trade in exports increased by 6.2, 5.9, 20.1 and 12.7 percentage points respectively from 2012. Trade in knowledge-intensive services increased by 122.1% compared with 2012 and the deficit in trade in services hit a record low level for the past 10 years. Innovative growth drivers have been boosted. Imports and exports via cross-border e-commerce grew nearly 10 times in five years and the market procurement trade export volume rose by seven times in seven years. The integration of domestic and foreign trade has steadily improved. The China International Import Expo (CIIE) has achieved greater success. We have held four successful sessions of the CIIE, with deals totaling $272.27 billion. A variety of high-quality consumer goods and advanced technology products have been introduced through this platform. With a focus on both the supply and demand sides, the CIIE has greatly enhanced the healthy interplay of domestic and international circulations.

That is all for my brief introduction, thank you.