Warming Up
2020-12-04 08:14:12ByLiXiaoyang
Beijing Review 2020年49期
By Li Xiaoyang
As the impacts of the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） gradually ease in China， the tide is turning for foreign trade， with production rebounding and work resumption accelerating in recent months. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China （GACC）， foreign trade in goods totaled 25.95 trillion yuan （$3.91 trillion） in the first 10 months of the year. This represented a year-on-year increase of 1.1 percent， compared with 0.7 percent in the first three quarters.
The recovery was the result of a portfolio of new measures to support foreign trade firms， including enhanced credit services， simplified customs clearance procedures for cross-border e-commerce imports and exports， and eased market access for foreign investment.
Many foreign trade enterprises， especially small and medium-sized ones， were hampered by a shortage of funds. In response， the Ministry of Commerce has increased the export tax refund rate for 1，464 products. Li Xingqian， Director of the Foreign Trade Department at the ministry， told a press conference in early November that the resulting reduction in opera- tion costs has benefited around 25，000 enterprises.
In order to drive up exports， GACC established 10 cross-border business-tobusiness （B2B） export supervision pilot zones on July 1， integrating customs operations for B2B exports of goods. In September， 12 more such zones were inaugurated.
Overall growth
GACC data showed that general trade， trading in goods by companies with licenses to import and export， went up 2.8 percent to 15.6 trillion yuan （$2.35 trillion） in the first 10 months of the year， contributing to around 60 percent of the overall trade volume. Imports and exports of private companies expanded 10.5 percent to 12 trillion yuan （$1.8 trillion）， accounting for 46.2 percent of the national total， up 4 percentage points compared with the previous year.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained Chinas largest trading partner during the period， followed by the EU and the United States.
According to Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin， COVID-19 prevention and control supplies and essential consumer products for lockdown life boosted Chinas exports in the fi rst 10 months. Although auto exports slipped 6.7 percent in the January-October period， the export volume of mechanical and electrical products reached 8.45 trillion yuan （$1.2 trillion）， up 3.8 percent. Textile exports including masks also rose 34.8 percent.
