The Poster News APP:

The 17th BRICS Summit was recently held. Could you provide an overview of China's trade with other BRICS member states and partner countries in the first half of this year? What specific work has the customs authority taken to facilitate BRICS cooperation? Thank you.

Lyu Daliang:

Thank you for your questions. This year, the BRICS cooperation mechanism has expanded again, establishing itself as the premier platform for the Global South. In the first half of the year, China's imports and exports with other BRICS members and partner countries totaled 6.11 trillion yuan, up 3.9% from the same period last year. This accounted for 28.1% of China's total imports and exports. By combining trade with investment and R&D, we have supported these countries in improving infrastructure and promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, which has in turn boosted trade growth.

In the industrial sector, BRICS countries have each leveraged their comparative advantages, and their cooperation in the production and supply chains of chemicals, metals and electronics has deepened. In the first half of the year, China's imports from other BRICS countries increased significantly in printed circuits and parts and accessories for automatic data processing equipment, while rubber and plastics maintained growth. China's exports of petrochemical machinery, metal processing machine tools, and other equipment also grew rapidly.

In the agricultural sector, BRICS countries now span Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, with their diverse agricultural products can meet each member's varied needs. In the first half of the year, China's imports from other BRICS countries rose 13.7% for edible vegetable oils such as palm oil and rapeseed oil, and 10.6% for edible aquatic products such as shrimp and crab. Meanwhile, China's exports of citrus, grapes, and other products to BRICS countries also grew rapidly. Additionally, China's exports of agricultural machinery such as combine harvesters and cotton pickers to other BRICS countries increased by 34.7%, contributing to agricultural modernization in those countries.

In the infrastructure sector, exports of road rollers and concrete mixer trucks from China to other BRICS countries increased 42.7% and 37.9%, respectively, during the first six months. At the same time, we have continued to promote the development of a green BRICS and have cooperated with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries to build solar power plants in desert areas, contributing to the energy transition in those countries. In the first half of the year, China's exports of renewable energy generator sets to other BRICS countries surged more than 70%, while components for wind turbine generators rose 11.8%.

Last October, President Xi Jinping announced that China would build the BRICS Customs Center of Excellence. The GACC is committed to implementing these initiatives by focusing on three major tasks: developing the BRICS Smart Customs Center of Excellence website, enhancing capacity building and cooperative exchanges, and creating Smart Customs development and cooperation demonstration sites. These efforts are aimed at creating new hubs for BRICS customs cooperation. On June 30, the BRICS Smart Customs Center of Excellence was officially launched, both sharing China's Smart Customs development experience with other BRICS customs authorities and helping enterprises better understand the trade policies of BRICS countries. Next, we will accelerate BRICS customs capacity building and cooperative exchanges, establish Smart Customs development and cooperation demonstration sites, and implement the outcomes of the 17th BRICS Summit. This will provide strong support for economic and trade exchanges among BRICS countries. Thank you.

Zhou Jianshe:

Due to time constraints, we'll take one final question.