Reuters:

China relied heavily on exports to hit last year's growth target as domestic demand faltered. So, how much room is there for further expanding overseas sales in 2026? And can you tell us what new measures are in the pipeline to spur consumer spending this year?

Wang Zhihua:

Thank you for your questions. I think the questions you raised involves two issues, one is about foreign trade, and the other is about consumption. I will answer the foreign trade question, and I suggest my colleague answers the consumption question.

Regarding foreign trade, China's foreign trade in 2025 can be described as pressing ahead under pressure and steadily improving, driving the prosperity of trade partners through its own development, and further highlighting the concept of "cooperation and mutual benefit." We have mainly focused our efforts on three aspects:

First, thanks to a complete and efficient production-supply chain system and continuous innovation, Chinese products have made overall improvements in design, technology, quality, efficiency and service. High quality, reasonably priced and diversified Chinese products have provided more choices for consumers in different countries, meeting consumer needs in different fields and at different levels.

Second, China has fully participated in the global industrial division of labor and cooperation, supplying stable and reliable intermediate and capital goods that have made important contributions to industrial development and industrialization in countries worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

Third, China has actively shared opportunities from its green and low-carbon transition, balancing domestic development with global needs while continuously supplying green products worldwide. For example, in 2025, exports of lithium batteries and wind turbines increased 26.2% and 48.7%, respectively, significantly advancing global green and low-carbon development.

In 2026, China will unswervingly advance high-standard opening-up and promote innovative, balanced trade development. China is willing not only to be the world's factory but also the world's market. Its vast market will provide broader opportunities for products and services from all countries. China's high-quality development will continuously inject new momentum into the global economy.

That's all from me on this question. I'll turn the second question over to my colleague.

Yang Mu:

I'll take the second question. As mentioned earlier, China's total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 50 trillion yuan for the first time in 2025, maintaining steady growth. This fully demonstrates the vitality and resilience of China's massive consumer market. The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan. The Ministry of Commerce will earnestly implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the strategy of expanding domestic demand, and closely integrate livelihood improvement with consumption promotion. We will thoroughly implement special actions to boost consumption and build the "Shopping in China" brand, providing strong support for building a robust domestic market and advancing high-quality development. We will focus on three areas: introducing policies, organizing activities and optimizing consumption scenarios.

First, we will roll out policies that increase direct benefits for the public. We will optimize and implement the consumer goods trade-in program, promoting the consumption of bulk durables such as automobiles, home appliances, and digital and smart products. We will pilot reforms in automobile circulation and consumption to further unleash the potential of auto sales. We will also roll out the invoice lottery pilot program. As you may have noticed, the list of pilot cities was made public last weekend. We will advance the introduction of practical and effective policy measures to boost the debut economy and other areas.

Second, we will organize activities to create a vibrant consumption atmosphere. Focusing on three main themes — goods consumption, service consumption, and consumption scenarios — we will organize over 20 themed "Shopping in China" events this year. We will also organize customized events in 15 pilot cities for international consumption environments and support local activities across various regions. We aim to create a vibrant consumption atmosphere through a coordinated series of events with unified themes and distinctive features.

Third, we will optimize scenarios to improve the consumption environment. We will accelerate the development of international consumption center cities and advance pilot programs for building international consumption environments and innovative consumption formats, models and scenarios. We aim to create high-impact, highly visible consumption scenarios that enable domestic and foreign consumers to enjoy a better life. Thank you.