Despite headwinds from geopolitical tensions and softer overseas demand, policymakers and trade watchers have confidence that China’s foreign trade will grow steadily in the long run, as the country takes further steps to ensure the operation of the global supply chains and accelerate the industrial upgrading of its export-oriented companies. The country’s foreign trade is stabilizing thanks to its complete and resilient supply chains, new forms of foreign trade, such as cross-border e-commerce, and its participation in various free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, said Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce. With weakening overseas demand, global inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions affecting China’s foreign trade, it is vital and necessary to launch new policies to ease pressure on businesses, and stabilize foreign trade and the world’s supply chains, Wang said.
In addition to assisting exporters to attend exhibitions in overseas markets, enhancing support for cross-border e-commerce and improving the logistics system for the next step, the government has introduced a series of support measures to help companies smooth all the links in their export and import activities in late September. MOFCOM has also urged local authorities to strengthen support for foreign trade enterprises in epidemic prevention and control, energy consumption, labor recruitment and logistics, and “help them fulfill their contracts on time”.
China’s foreign trade surged more than 10% year-on-year to CNY27.3 trillion during the first eight months of 2022. Chen Bin, Executive Vice President of the China Machinery Industry Federation in Beijing, said the Chinese market is able to greatly cut the cost of innovation, logistics, market development and even raw material procurement for both domestic and global manufacturers. Its scale helps reduce a crucial part of the total manufacturing cost.
Liu Xiangdong, Researcher at the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges, suggested that China should make good use of multilateral and bilateral free trade deals, speed up the building of a network of high-standard free trade areas (FTAs), and build more stable and resilient industry and supply chains. “These efforts will help create more favorable conditions for the high-quality growth of foreign trade,” he said, as reported by the China Daily.
China has signed 19 free trade agreements with 26 countries and regions to date, and its trade value with FTA partners accounts for around 35% of its total trade.
