China to ensure smooth logistics, production to boost exports

Despite the country's foreign trade achieving stable performance in the first four months of the year, they said more efforts are needed as the export sector faces multiple challenges and risks, such as a high base from last year, and some internal and external factors, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The total value of China's foreign trade rose by 7.9 per cent on a yearly basis to 12.58 trillion yuan ($1.88 trillion) between January and April, with exports increasing by 10.3 per cent from the same period last year to 6.97 trillion yuan and imports growing by 5 per cent to 5.61 trillion yuan, the general administration of customs said recently.

The country's exports grew by 1.9 per cent year on year to 1.74 trillion yuan in April, while its imports dropped by 2 per cent to 1.41 trillion yuan, according to customs data.

Experts said it is urgent for the government to speed up the work resumption in the Yangtze River Delta region and introduce policies to further lower the prices of commodities to ease the pressure on Chinese exporters, official Chinese media reported.

Given challenges in the foreign trade sector, Sheng Qiuping, vice minister of commerce, said the government will help export-oriented companies gain more orders through both online and offline channels, and further increase credit support to them, especially the small, medium and micro enterprises, official Chinese media reported.

"We will accelerate the growth of new forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce and other businesses, establish a national negative list for cross-border trade in services, and foster new growth areas for trade in services," he said in a recent interview.

The government will uphold the leading role of major foreign trade firms and speed up its cultivation of ‘little giants’, or innovative small and medium enterprises that have played a crucial role in consolidating the country's supply and industrial chains, said Sheng.

Through policy assistance, the ministry began to work with China Export and Credit Insurance Corp in late February to give full play to the role of export credit insurance in risk prevention and credit enhancement.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)