Nanfang Daily, Nanfang Plus:

From January to June, China's total imports and exports of goods reached 25.47 trillion yuan, up 16.9% year-on-year. How does the Ministry of Commerce assess China's foreign trade performance in H1? How do you see the foreign trade situation going forward? Thank you.

Yan Dong:

Mr. Yang will take these questions.

Yang Tao:

Thank you for your questions. Foreign trade performance and the broader trade outlook are top of mind for many, so let me share a brief overview. In the first half of this year, despite a complex external environment, China's foreign trade demonstrated stable volume, high quality, and strong resilience, providing strong support for economic growth. First, overall volume remains stable. China's foreign trade has crossed a new threshold, underpinned by an increasingly solid foundation. As you mentioned, China's imports and exports of goods reached 25.5 trillion yuan in H1, setting a new record for the period with a year-on-year increase of 16.9%. In terms of monthly figures, monthly trade volume consistently exceeded 4 trillion yuan from March through June. Foreign trade maintained a steady pace and strong momentum, and its foundation remained solid.

Second, the quality of foreign trade has improved, with its structure continuously optimizing and imports and exports becoming increasingly balanced. The development of foreign trade should be judged not only by volume growth, but also by quality enhancement. In terms of product structure, imports and exports in the first half of the year leaned heavily into innovation, smart technologies and green transformation. Products such as integrated circuits, industrial robots, and green products all posted strong growth. Balanced development also showed new progress. Imports grew by 22.1% in H1, significantly outpacing exports, and the monthly import growth remained above 20% for four consecutive months. These concrete actions reflect China's firm commitment to expanding opening up and fulfilling its responsibilities as a major country.

Third, the sector has demonstrated strong resilience. Market diversification has advanced in depth, and the momentum for foreign trade development has continued to build. In particular, in the face of global supply chain disruptions caused by changes in the Middle East situation in the first half of the year, China's foreign trade has injected stability and certainty into global development. For example, the 139th Canton Fair has drawn merchants from across the globe. The number of participating enterprises and overseas purchasers in attendance surpassed that of all previous editions. Global companies have grown more confident in China's market and in expanding their footprint here, and China's circle of foreign trade friends has kept expanding.

Looking ahead, the global economic and trade environment will be complex and volatile. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projected that global trade growth will ease to 3.5% in 2026, down from 5% in 2025, and foreign trade will continue to face a host of uncertain and unforeseeable factors. Going forward, we will unswervingly expand high-level opening up, stabilize exports and expand imports with more pragmatic policies and measures, and more convenient service guarantees, and in particular, promote innovative and balanced development of trade, so as to continue making positive contributions to global economic and trade development. Thank you.