China's Foreign Trade Develops Steadily, Quality Improves and Creates Platform

Recently, the General Administration of Customs of China released the national import and export data in July 2019. The data show that China's foreign trade has maintained a steady and qualitative momentum of development in the first seven months, and its endogenous momentum and vitality have been continuously enhanced. Among them, two figures attract people's attention. First, China's foreign trade and imports and exports of the countries along the "one belt and one road" increase by 5 trillion and 30 billion yuan, an increase of 10.2%. Two, private enterprises have become the main force to pull China's foreign trade, and imports and exports are 7 trillion and 310 billion yuan, up 11.8% over the same period last year, and the growth rate ranks first among all kinds of enterprises. 

Since this year, China has continuously optimized its foreign trade structure and business environment, and enterprises have made innovations to tap potential and diversify their markets. Facing the changing international economic environment and the obvious increase of various uncertainties, China's foreign trade continues to maintain a steady and good momentum of development.

All walks of life are open to the outside world in an all-round way

In June this year, the three major lists which are regarded as the vanes of China's opening to the outside world came out at the same time. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce issued the negative lists of China's foreign investment access in the 2019 edition, the negative lists of foreign investment access in the free trade pilot area and the catalogue of industries encouraging foreign investment, which began on July 30. Formal implementation. This is the fifth time that China has relaxed its negative list since the establishment of FTA six years ago. It is also a clear signal for China to further open its market. In the financial field, the Office of the Financial Stability and Development Committee of the State Council last month introduced 11 new measures for opening up the financial industry to the outside world, further expanding the opening up of the financial industry. The 11 measures include allowing foreign-funded institutions to rate all types of bonds in the inter-bank bond market and the exchange bond market when conducting credit rating business in China, encouraging foreign financial institutions to participate in the establishment and investment in financial subsidiaries of commercial banks, etc. Since last year, China has also introduced a series of policies and measures, such as reducing taxes and fees, optimizing the business environment at ports, and facilitating customs clearance. The level of trade facilitation has increased significantly. In 2018, the World Bank upgraded China's business environment ranking by 32 places at one time; among them, the ranking of cross-border trade jumped from 97 to 65, and also increased by 32 places. Li Kuiwen, Director of Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, said that under the background of the poor global trade environment, the number of foreign trade enterprises in China has not decreased this year, but is still growing. According to the data released recently, in the first half of this year, 330,000 enterprises with import and export performance in China, an increase of 6.6%.

"Stability of domestic economy is an important support of stability of foreign trade". Li Kuiwen said that the opening of China's door is wider and wider, and the effect of stable foreign trade policy is constantly emerging, which will more effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade and enhance the vitality of enterprises. Recently, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Sichuan and other provinces and municipalities held press conferences to inform the relevant situation of the development of open economy in various regions, as well as the achievements of creating new open plateau and speeding up the formation of a new pattern of opening up. Chen Huarong, deputy director of Commerce Department of Hubei Province, introduced that facing the new opportunities and challenges of opening up and development, Hubei will promote the implementation of major projects and projects of opening up and development in the whole province and "100 items of opening up" in the Hubei edition, speed up the construction of Hubei Free Trade Experimental Zone, intensify institutional innovation and build a pioneer area of opening up to the outside world. Build a state-of-the-art port, build an international logistics center in Central China and an economic highland of inland ports, and form a hub for integration and development of the Yangtze River economic belt and the "one belt and one road".

"With China's economy changing from high-speed growth stage to high-quality development stage, China's opening-up pattern is changing from the eastern coastal opening to the inland full-scale opening, and from the"import-oriented"to the"import-oriented"and"go-out"dual opening. Chen Huarong said that in the new historical starting point, further opening-up will help to make better use of high-quality capital, technology and human resources at home and abroad, increase the supply of high-end products and services, expand new space for high-quality economic development and build a new platform. It is also conducive to enhancing the awareness of independent innovation, fostering core competitiveness, properly coping with the risk challenges of obvious changes in the external environment, and stimulating the endogenous motive force of "steady growth". "Faced with the great historical opportunity of opening up in the new era, we should firmly establish the concept of"seeking openness is seeking development"and unswervingly promote high-quality development by opening up at a high level."