China Media Group:

In 2025, the global economic and trade situation was unstable and full of uncertainties. What do you think are the reasons behind the stable growth of China's foreign trade? In addition, what is your outlook for China's foreign trade in 2026? Thank you.

Wang Jun:

Thank you for your questions. Over the past year, global economic growth has slowed, unilateralism and protectionism have risen, and the international economic and trade order has been severely disrupted. Faced with a complex and changing international environment, China's imports and exports still grew at a relatively rapid 3.8%. This marked nine consecutive years of growth, and the longest continuous growth period since China's accession to the World Trade Organization. In December alone, import and export volumes reached 4.26 trillion yuan, marking a 4.9% year-on-year increase, setting a new record for the highest monthly volume. Last year's rapid growth in foreign trade was mainly due to the following factors:

First, policies to stabilize foreign trade played a strong driving role. Last year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council assessed the situation in a timely manner and made a series of decisions and plans to stabilize foreign trade. Local governments and relevant departments introduced detailed policy measures to help enterprises secure orders, expand markets, and foster new momentum for foreign trade. Customs, together with relevant departments, has carried out special initiatives to facilitate cross-border trade and taken the lead in introducing 29 policy measures for trial implementation. These measures have been welcomed by local governments and enterprises and are now being replicated and rolled out nationwide. We will hold a special press conference tomorrow to provide more details. These practical and effective policies and measures have helped offset the impact of external shocks, boosted business confidence, and stabilized market expectations.

Second, China's vast domestic market continues to unleash its import potential. China has a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of over 400 million, making it a vast, diverse and highly promising market. The domestic economy continues to recover and improve, with production and consumption demands being effectively released, offering countries broad market opportunities and room for cooperation. The latest international data shows that in the first three quarters of last year, China became the top export destination for 79 countries and regions worldwide, an increase of three compared to the whole of 2024. Last year, China imported a total of 18.48 trillion yuan in goods, maintaining its share of global imports at around 10%.

Third, China's complete industrial system continues to align with overseas demand. China has the world's most complete industrial system, with the widest range of industries and the most complete industrial chains. Scientific and technological innovation is deeply integrated with industrial innovation, enabling the country to keep pace with shifting international market demand and continuously provide high-quality goods. China's manufacturing product exports have maintained growth for nine consecutive years. Last year, exports of equipment manufacturing products reached 16.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.2%. This accounted for 59.4% of China's total export value, contributing 5.3 percentage points to overall export growth.

As for this year's foreign trade outlook, global trade lacks overall growth momentum, and the external environment for China's foreign trade development remains challenging and complex. Global trade growth is expected to weaken further in 2026, according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report. Contributing factors include slowing global economic growth, geopolitical divisions, ongoing policy uncertainties, increased vulnerabilities and rising trade costs. The World Trade Organization's latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report has sharply lowered the 2026 global merchandise trade growth forecast to 0.5%.

At the same time, we should also recognize that China's advantages in institutions, market, industrial system and talent resources have become even more prominent. With a more diversified set of trading partners and significantly enhanced resilience against risks, the fundamentals of China's foreign trade remain solid. The fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has made important arrangements to promote trade innovation and development. This provides a stable outlook for the continued improvement of China's foreign trade and injects more certainty into global economic and trade development. Thank you.