China’s foreign trade has maintained steady progress amid stable development.

Economic Daily, Beijing, August 21 (Reporter Feng Qiyu) In the first seven months of this year, China’s total import and export value of goods reached 25.7 trillion yuan, marking a 3.5% year-on-year increase. Exports amounted to 15.3 trillion yuan, up 7.3%. At the Ministry of Commerce’s regular press conference on the 21st, spokesperson He Yongqian stated that since the beginning of this year, risks and challenges facing international economic and trade development have significantly increased. It has been no easy feat for China’s foreign trade to maintain steady progress with both volume and quality improving.
He Yongqian analyzed that, overall, there are three main supporting factors.
First, strong policy support. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with relevant departments, has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Multiple rounds of policies to stabilize foreign trade have been introduced, continuously strengthening policy safeguards around cultivating new momentum for foreign trade, enhancing public services, and helping foreign trade enterprises stabilize orders and employment. Departments and localities have worked in close coordination to ensure foreign trade enterprises “fully enjoy all applicable benefits.” Taking finance as an example, in the first seven months, China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE) underwrote short-term insurance worth $573.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%. and the Export-Import Bank of China extended over 700 billion yuan in new loans to the foreign trade sector.
Second, diversified cooperation. China has continuously expanded the scope of mutually beneficial cooperation with more trading partners. In the first seven months, China’s imports and exports with emerging and other markets grew by 5%, accounting for 65.5% of total trade, an increase of 0.9 percentage points year-on-year. Among these, trade with ASEAN and Africa grew by 9.4% and 17.2% respectively; while trade with Belt and Road partner countries grew by 5.5%, accounting for 51.7% of total trade.
Third, momentum is accelerating. The upward and innovative trends in foreign trade are becoming more consolidated. In the first seven months, exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 9.3%, accounting for 60% of total exports, an increase of 1.1 percentage points year-on-year. High-tech and high-value-added products such as smart home appliances and electric vehicles maintained high export growth rates. Foreign trade enterprises rose to the challenge and adapted to new circumstances. In the first seven months, 654,000 enterprises engaged in import and export activities, with nearly 90% being private enterprises.
Global economic and trade development still faces uncertainties. Multiple international organizations have pointed out that tariff barriers significantly increase trade costs, affecting the efficiency and stability of global production and supply chains, and global trade still faces downward risks. China will remain committed to expanding high-level opening-up, steadfastly focusing on its own development, and countering uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development. “We have the confidence and capability to continue promoting stable and high-quality foreign trade growth, while working with more trading partners to jointly address challenges and share development opportunities,” said He Yongqian.