Optimistic outlook for foreign trade in the second half of the year

Regarding the import and export performance in the first half of the year, Li Xingqian, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that since the beginning of this year, the external challenges faced by foreign trade have indeed increased significantly. The State Council has timely introduced policy measures to fully support foreign trade enterprises in exploring the market. Overall, in the face of a severe and complex external environment, foreign trade has withstood the pressure and demonstrated strong resilience in the first half of the year. There are three outstanding performances:

Firstly, the overall stability of trade scale has been achieved, and the trade volume has maintained growth. From January to June, China's import and export of goods exceeded 20 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%. Compared with the same period before the epidemic, which was the first half of 2019, it increased by 36.7%. China continues to maintain its position as the largest country in goods trade. The market share is steadily increasing. According to the latest data from the World Trade Organization, global exports decreased by 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, while China's international market share for exports increased by 0.3 percentage points compared to the first quarter of last year. Monitoring also indicates that in the second quarter, China's export share in the international market remained stable and rising. Against the backdrop of overall sluggish demand in the global market, exports from surrounding countries and regions have generally declined in double digits. The Chinese export market is diverse and the products are abundant, effectively offsetting the impact of weak external demand and cyclical decline in some products. The current performance of China's foreign trade is in line with expectations.

Secondly, the continuous improvement of trade quality has been achieved. From January to June this year, the import and export share of emerging markets increased by 1.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year, reaching 63.5%. Imports and exports to FTA partners increased by 2.4%, and those to countries along the "the Belt and Road" grew by 9.8%, both higher than the overall export growth. Export products are improving and upgrading, with strong growth in high-quality, high-tech, and high value-added products. In the first half of the year, electric passenger vehicles, solar cells, and lithium batteries collectively drove up the overall export growth rate by 1.8 percentage points. The foreign trade format is also undergoing innovative development. We have replicated and promoted 30 excellent practice cases of new foreign trade formats nationwide, and cross-border e-commerce exports increased by 19.9% in the first half of the year, maintaining a rapid development momentum.

Thirdly, foreign trade effectively serves the overall economic development situation. Foreign trade continues to promote the recovery of the national economy. Foreign trade directly and indirectly drives employment of 190 million people. Last year, the registration of foreign trade operators was cancelled, further stimulating the enthusiasm of market entities. From January to June, the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance increased by 35000 compared to the same period last year. In terms of ensuring the supply of the domestic market, we have actively expanded the import of food, energy resources, and excellent consumer goods, meeting the needs of domestic production and daily life. In terms of expanding openness, we will promote the full entry into force of RCEP for 15 signatory countries, and ensure smoother internal and external circulation