Resilient foreign trade sees great potential

Hustling and bustling, foreign-trade ports in China rarely see any vehicles passing without a full load. A typical scene is at Qingdao port in East China’s Shandong province, where trains bound for Europe have been increasing since last year.

This reflects China’s growing presence in foreign markets and international exports — in the first half of 2019, the total value of traded goods gained 3.9 percent year-on-year, reaching 14.67 trillion yuan. Exports totaled 7.95 trillion yuan, up 6.1 percent. The trade surplus increased by 41.6 percent, to 1.23 trillion yuan.

Li Kuiwen, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, said foreign trade in China is growing steadily, with quality and vitality.

A recent report by WTO lowered expectations for global trade growth in 2019. And indeed, major economies such as Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea have seen decreases in total value of imports and exports in the first season of this year.

However, the growth rate of China’s exports stayed ahead of the world’s major economies.

Over the past four years, China’s total value of foreign trade in the first half has been on the rise, from 11.13 trillion yuan in 2016 to 14.12 trillion yuan this year.

Meanwhile, the optimizing structure of foreign trade backed by hi-tech products raised the trade quality.

According to customs statistics, in the first half of 2019, China’s general trade import and export hit 8.78 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 5.5 percent, accounting for 59.9 percent of China’s total foreign trade value, 0.9 percent higher than in the same period in 2018.

Compared with processing trade, general trade carries higher additional value with longer domestic industrial chains, the improved percentage of which means China is more independent in developing foreign trade, said Li Kuiwen.

Also, exports from China have become more high-end, and such items as automobiles, mechanical equipment, electrical and electronic products are more competitive.

More entities are participating in China’s foreign trade, producing a dynamic and self-powered market.

Customs statistics show 336,000 private enterprises were involved with foreign trade in the first half of 2019, 8.5 percent more than in the same time last year. Two-fifths of China’s total foreign trade is contributed by private enterprises, a dominating amount that has surpassed the foreign-invested sector’s contribution.

Market entity is the major foundation of foreign trade, said Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, adding that the fast-growing private sector will further boost market vitality.

Despite facing external uncertainties and risks posed by protectionism and unilateralism, China’s foreign trade is showing resilience, able to maintain steady growth, according to Professor Zhao Zhongxiu, headmaster at Shandong University of Finance and Economics.

First, the international market doesn’t see any alternatives to Chinese exports in the short term. The popularity of Chinese products lies in its high quality and good prices, said Fu Xiaolan, a scholar from Oxford University.

Second, Chinese enterprises put more focus on talent, research, and design, as well as technologies, as they are rising to the manufacturing upstream in the global industrial chain. This brought higher additional value and competitiveness for Chinese products in the global market.

Third, China has more than 230 trade partners around the world, 61 of which embrace China as its top import market, the Ministry of Commerce statistics indicated. Particularly, countries along the Belt and Road have traded 4.24 trillion yuan worth of products with China in the first half of this year.

As supply-side structural reform continues, foreign trade also sees improvement in quality and efficiency.

Recent opening-up measures and policies have improved the business climate, favoring foreign trade. Also, tax cuts and fee reductions have eased the burden and encouraged enterprises.

Moreover, the government will streamline administration, strengthen regulation and improve services for more convenient, efficient and facilitated foreign trade. At customs, time for clearing exports has been shortened by over half. And the single-window system for foreign trade has been connected to 25 ministries and covers all trading ports in the country.

Chinese enterprises are also full of confidence in establishing and promoting their own original brands, aimed at becoming more competitive in the global market.

Deputy Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said China, having gone through all the challenges, will grasp its goal for steady and high-quality development in foreign trade.