Hot News｜Minister Wang Wentao attended the press conference of the State Council Information Office to introduce the situation of high-quality business development
Invest in Guangdong 2024-01-29 17:12 Guangdong
The State Council Information Office held a press conference at 1:30 pm on January 26, 2024 (Friday), and invited Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, International Trade Negotiator and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Wang Shouwen, and Vice Minister Guo Tingting to introduce the strategy of seeking progress while maintaining stability and taking measures to Promote stability and promote high-quality business development to achieve new breakthroughs, and answer reporters' questions.
Quick takeaways:
We should promptly introduce new policies, accelerate the cultivation of new driving forces, help open up new markets, and release new import potential. We are confident and confident in consolidating the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment.
The scale of my country's investment attraction is still at a high level in recent years, and the investment structure continues to be optimized. We will focus on building the "Invest in China" brand, continue to implement the "24 Foreign Investment Rules", promote the relaxation of foreign investment access, continue to optimize the foreign investment environment, and further improve service levels.
The Ministry of Commerce holds a roundtable meeting with foreign-funded enterprises every month to listen to targeted opinions and suggestions from different industries, making the roundtable mechanism a platform for candid and pragmatic exchanges with foreign-funded enterprises.
We will successfully organize the "Year of Consumption Promotion" activities, closely adhere to the keyword "continuous expansion", enhance the rebound momentum of the consumer market, and provide residents with a more diverse and richer consumption experience.
The common interests between China and the United States in the economic and trade field far outweigh their differences. Both sides should strengthen dialogue and communication, strive to help enterprises solve the problems they face in carrying out practical economic and trade cooperation, and explore the potential of economic and trade cooperation.
my country's newly signed free trade agreements have achieved breakthrough results in the "3+1". It has signed 22 free trade agreements with 29 countries and regions, covering about one-third of the total foreign trade volume.
my country’s trade in goods with the countries co-constructing the “Belt and Road Initiative” increased by 2.8%, accounting for 46.6% of foreign trade. Non-financial direct investment in the co-constructing countries increased by 28.4%, and contracted projects increased by 9.8%.
my country's cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, the entities are growing, the ecosystem continues to be optimized, and the branding trend is obvious.
The following is the transcript of the press conference:
Deputy Director and Spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the State Council Information Office Shou Xiaoli
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. Today we are very pleased to invite Mr. Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, Mr. Wang Shouwen, International Trade Negotiator and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, and Ms. Guo Tingting, Vice Minister, and ask them to introduce to you how to make progress while maintaining stability, promote stability through promotion, and promote the high-quality development of commerce. Information about new breakthroughs and answer questions that everyone is concerned about.
Next, let me first invite Mr. Wang Wentao to make an introduction.
Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, good afternoon! I am very happy to attend the press conference of the State Council Information Office to introduce to you the business operations in 2023 and the work considerations for implementing the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference in 2024. First of all, on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for your long-term concern and support for commercial work.
In the past year of 2023, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, we resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, united as one, and overcame difficulties to promote overall stable business operations throughout the year and take a step forward in high-quality development. New pace. I think it can be summed up simply in three words:
The first word is "guarantee stability". The "troika" that drives national economic growth includes consumption, investment, net exports, and business work. Specifically, in terms of consumption, total retail sales of consumer goods hit a record high, and final consumer spending will contribute 82.5% to economic growth in 2023. In terms of foreign trade, the import and export of goods achieved positive growth in RMB based on a high base, and the international export market share remained stable at around 14%. In terms of two-way investment, the actual scale of foreign capital used was the third highest in history; foreign non-financial direct investment increased by 16.7% in RMB. Generally speaking, these areas have maintained basic stability and made positive contributions to the recovery of the national economy.
The second word is "improvement". That is to say, if you look at it, the structure is constantly optimized, and the quality and gold content of development are constantly improving. For example, in terms of consumption, online retail sales increased by 11% and continued to maintain a rapid growth rate; service retail sales increased by 20%, showing great growth potential. In terms of foreign trade, my country's import and export proportion of intermediate goods reached 61.1%, remaining at a historical high; in particular, the import and export proportion of private enterprises increased by 3.1 percentage points, reaching 53.5%, firmly occupying "half of the country". In terms of foreign investment, the proportion of investment in high-tech industries and manufacturing has increased. In terms of foreign investment, the growth rate of foreign investment in manufacturing, wholesale and retail industries is higher than the average, and foreign investment cooperation in green, digital, blue and other fields continues to expand.
The third word is "empowerment". New momentum for development in some fields continues to emerge. For example, the proportion of online retail sales of physical goods in total retail sales has increased to 27.6%, a record high. For example, green, health, smart products, and domestic “trendy products” are highly favored and have become new consumption patterns. Hot spots; automobile exports increased by more than 50%, and cross-border e-commerce exports increased by 19.6%, both becoming new engines for foreign trade growth; the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises increased by 39.7%, fully reflecting the enthusiasm of foreign investors to share opportunities in the Chinese market. Others have made new progress and breakthroughs, such as the completion of text negotiations on the WTO Investment Facilitation Agreement, which is the first major issue that China has taken the lead in the WTO. Newly signed or upgraded free trade agreements with four countries including Nicaragua. The first Chinese plan on strengthening international economic and trade cooperation in the digital and green fields was released, which received positive response from more than 30 countries and international organizations.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China and is a critical year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The Ministry of Commerce will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, resolutely implement the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference, and adhere to the "three "Important" positioning, promote consumption from post-epidemic recovery to continued expansion, consolidate the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment, expand high-level opening up to the outside world, and use practical actions and results of high-quality business development to promote economic recovery and promote Chinese-style modernization. Make a positive contribution.
Now, my colleagues and I would like to answer your questions. Thanks.
Shou Xiaoli
Thank you, Minister Wang Wentao, for your introduction. Now enter the question and answer session. Please inform your news organization before asking questions.
The Paper reporter
In 2023, my country's total foreign trade import and export volume will reach 41.76 trillion yuan, demonstrating strong resilience. International institutions generally predict that world economic and trade development will face more uncertainties in 2024. What do you think of China's foreign trade situation in 2024? What other policies and measures will the Ministry of Commerce introduce to stabilize the development momentum of foreign trade? Thanks.
Wang Wentao
Thank you for your question. Since last year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, we have focused on policy, entities, markets and other aspects, made proactive and precise efforts to promote the overall stability of foreign trade operations, and the import and export scale reached 41.76 trillion yuan, achieving the goal of "promoting foreign trade". The goal of stabilizing and improving quality. This achievement is hard-won and can be viewed from three dimensions:
Vertically, based on the high base in 2022, the import and export scale has achieved a positive growth of 0.2%, an increase of more than 30% compared with 2019 before the epidemic. In particular, as I just said, our export share of the international market is expected to remain stable at around 14%.
Horizontally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development predicts that global trade in goods will fall by 7.5% in 2023. In contrast, my country's foreign trade performance is better than the overall global level and better than most major economies.
Opening it up, we can see that the foreign trade structure has been continuously optimized, highlighted by two "first breakthroughs". First, the "three new items", namely new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries, have exports exceeding 1 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of nearly 30%, which shows that our export commodity structure is continuing to optimize. Second, the number of business entities with import and export performance exceeded 600,000 for the first time, reaching 645,000, indicating that foreign trade business entities are also constantly growing and optimizing.
Just now you asked what you think of the situation in 2024. This issue is of great concern to everyone. In general, this year, the external situation facing my country's foreign trade development will be more complex and severe. On the one hand, demand is sluggish and the world economy remains sluggish. The International Monetary Fund predicts that global economic growth will drop to 2.9%. On the other hand, the environment is poor, trade protectionism is on the rise, geopolitical conflicts are intensifying, and spillover risks have increased significantly. For example, the recent obstruction of the Red Sea shipping channel has caused disruptions to international trade. But it is also important to note that my country's foreign trade development still has many favorable conditions, such as the continuous improvement of the competitiveness of the foreign trade industry, the vigorous development of new business forms and models, the accelerated advancement of digitalization and greening, etc. We are confident and confident in implementing the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference and consolidating the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment. Specifically, we will do a good job in four aspects:
First, we must promptly introduce new policies. The earlier policy measures are introduced, the greater the effect will be. In April last year, we promoted the introduction of opinions on stabilizing the scale and optimizing the structure of foreign trade, which had very good results. We will continue to implement it. At the same time, in accordance with this year's new situation and new tasks, we must prepare policy research reserves and add more tools to the toolbox. Some time ago, we conducted a thorough review of the suggestions and demands put forward by local governments and enterprises. We are currently working hard to carry out a new round of policy research and evaluation, striving to introduce them as soon as possible to form a "combination" with existing policies, or a superimposed combination, to maximize their effectiveness. Synergy.
The second is to accelerate the cultivation of new driving forces. Specifically, we need to gain competitiveness from the industry and rely on my country's advantages of a complete industrial foundation and a complete range of manufacturing industries to expand trade in intermediate goods such as raw materials, semi-finished products, and parts. We need vitality from innovation and promote the development of new business formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce, bonded maintenance, and market procurement. We need to seek motivation from reform, formulate a catalog of import and export goods for green and low-carbon products, accelerate the digitization of international trade documents, and promote the green development of trade and the digital transformation of the entire chain.
The third is to help open up new markets. There is a saying in the foreign trade industry: "A thousand emails are worth a meeting." To this end, we will continue to successfully organize important exhibitions such as the Canton Fair and the China Service Trade Fair, actively support enterprises to participate in overseas exhibitions, continue to promote the convenience of cross-border business personnel exchanges, and facilitate the exchange of cross-border business personnel. Communication between companies creates more conditions, helps companies better connect with the market and customers, and win more orders.
Fourth, release new import potential. Not only must we expand exports, but we must also expand imports. The market is the scarcest resource. my country has the advantage of a large-scale market, which provides broad market space and cooperation opportunities for enterprises from all over the world. We will expand the import of high-quality consumer goods, advanced technologies, important equipment, and key components, increase the import of energy resource products and domestically in short supply agricultural products, give full play to the role of important exhibition platforms such as the China International Import Expo, expand diversified import channels, and improve the convenience of import trade. level, and cultivate national import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones. The purpose of these efforts is to build China's ultra-large-scale market into a large market shared by the world and continue to inject new momentum into national economic development and global economic recovery. Thanks.
Bloomberg News reporter
My question is about foreign investment in China. Recently, the Chinese government has issued 24 policies to expand efforts to attract foreign investment. Recently, a person from the Japan Chamber of Commerce said that the Chinese government has done some work to ensure personal income tax reduction and exemption and facilitate visa applications. However, there are currently specific matters in other fields. Not yet implemented. In addition, there are currently no further detailed rules regarding the new regulations on cross-border data transmission. What measures does the Ministry of Commerce intend to take to address the above concerns of enterprises?
Wang Wentao
Last year, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Optimizing the Foreign Investment Environment and Increasing Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment," which is often referred to as the 24 Articles. After the policy was released, the Ministry of Commerce worked with relevant departments and localities to further refine the work tasks, implementation measures, and timetable, and publicized and interpreted the policy through press conferences, foreign-invested enterprise roundtables and other venues. Many media friends present here Also helped with extensive publicity and introduction.
You just asked how the implementation is going? I can make some introductions to friends from the media. There are 24 foreign investment items, with a total of 59 policy measures. Over the past five months, we have worked hard with relevant departments to promote it. Overall, more than 60% of the policy measures have been implemented or have made positive progress. Specifically, 10 of the 59 projects have been completed, 28 have made phased progress, and 21 are continuing to advance. As you just mentioned, for example, policies such as tax exemption for foreign personal allowances and tax rebates for foreign-funded R&D institutions purchasing domestic equipment have been extended until the end of 2027. For another example, the new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners was officially launched and the "Guidelines for Foreign Business Personnel Working and Living in China" were released, which has improved the convenience of transportation, life, and consumption for foreign friends in China.
You just talked about the regulations to standardize and promote the cross-border flow of data. What I can tell you is that our competent authorities are stepping up their efforts to introduce them. For the 24 59 policies, local governments are also formulating supporting implementation details and launching some policies based on the characteristics of local foreign-funded enterprises.
What I also want to say is that foreign-invested enterprises have the best say on whether the "24 Articles on Foreign Investment" are implemented well and effective. We are now conducting evaluations to understand the real thoughts of foreign-funded enterprises through questionnaires and symposiums. At present, over 90% of foreign-invested companies have positive reviews. Of course, everyone has also put forward a lot of opinions and expectations, which we all attach great importance to and will promote them in the next step of work. The Ministry of Commerce will continue to promote various measures to accelerate the implementation and effectiveness, and promptly report the status of government procurement, standard setting, investment facilitation and other aspects that are generally concerned by foreign-invested enterprises. Here, I would like to tell you that any difficulties and problems encountered by foreign-funded enterprises can be reported to the Ministry of Commerce through at least three channels: the first is the special class for key foreign investment projects; the second is the roundtable meeting of foreign-funded enterprises; The third is the online “Online Handling of Issues and Complaints of Foreign-Funded Enterprises” system. We will actively promote the solution of the problem and promote the implementation of relevant policies and measures. Thanks.
Nanfang Daily Nanfang+ reporter
RCEP will take full effect in 2023. China has also signed free trade agreements with many countries. The circle of free trade friends continues to expand. What progress has my country made in the construction of free trade zones? In the next step, what measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to promote the construction of high-standard free trade zones? Thanks.
Wang Shouwen, International Trade Negotiator and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce
Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to expand the network of high-standard free trade zones for the world. The Ministry of Commerce resolutely implements the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee. Last year, we took a series of measures and achieved good results.
First of all, as Minister Wang Wentao just introduced, in 2023, we created a new historical record in the negotiation and signing of free trade agreements. We signed 4 new agreements, signing free trade agreements with Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Serbia, and signing free trade agreements with Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Serbia. Singapore signed a protocol to further upgrade the free trade agreement, and we also substantially completed early harvest negotiations with Honduras on the free trade agreement. As of today, 22 free trade agreements have been signed with 29 countries and regions, accounting for about one-third of China's total foreign trade.
In terms of content, it has achieved a new level in terms of high standards. For example, in terms of upgrading Nicaragua's free trade agreement and Singapore's free trade agreement, we have made high-level cross-border service trade and mutual investment opening commitments in accordance with the negative list model. This is the first step in China's free trade agreement negotiations. once. In addition, free trade agreement negotiations now include standard cooperation, including the digitization of trade documents.
You just mentioned RCEP, which is indeed worth introducing. RCEP has been in effect for two years and has brought tangible benefits to our companies and our free trade agreement partners. Last year, our import and export volume with the other 14 RCEP member states reached 12.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.3% compared with before the agreement came into effect in 2021. Among them, China's exports to other RCEP member states increased by 16.6%, compared with China's exports to the world during the same period. The export growth rate was 4.6 percentage points higher. It is particularly worth mentioning that China’s export performance of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products is even more impressive.
In terms of tariff reductions and exemptions, Chinese companies enjoyed import tax concessions of RMB 2.36 billion under RCEP last year. At the same time, RCEP’s free trade partners and their import companies enjoyed RMB 4.05 billion in preferential treatment for products imported from China. . This is a mutually beneficial result for both parties, which is very obvious. We also help local businesses and industries enjoy the benefits of these free trade agreements.
At the same time, we are actively promoting China's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). In August 2022, we established a working group on China's accession to DEPA. As of today, we have completed In more than 10 rounds of ministerial-level negotiations, department-level negotiations and technical-level negotiations, Minister Wang Wentao has had full exchanges with ministers of DEPA members. Now the DEPA negotiations have completed preliminary discussions on all terms.
Speaking of this year, it can be said that our free trade agreement negotiation agenda is richer. We will work hard to complete negotiations with the ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, and the negotiations will be held in Hangzhou next week. We will also complete negotiations with Honduras, upgrade the free trade agreement with Peru, and continue to promote joining CPTPP and DEPA.
In addition, we will also conduct free trade negotiations or upgrade negotiations with the GCC, New Zealand, South Korea, and Switzerland to further implement the expansion of a global high-standard free trade zone network proposed in the 20th National Congress report.
In terms of high standards, we will also add some new content, including increasing the proportion of zero tariffs in goods trade, comprehensively promoting the opening up of service trade and investment through a negative list, including expanding the opening up of service industries such as telecommunications and medical care, and expanding markets such as digital products. Access, and incorporate high-standard economic and trade rules such as digital economy, green economy, standard certification, and government procurement into new free trade negotiations.
Thank you for your question.
CCTV reporter, China Central Radio and Television Station
We have noticed that at the National Business Work Conference, the Ministry of Commerce proposed that this year will be the "Year of Consumption Promotion" as the main line to promote the continued expansion of consumption. Can you give us a detailed introduction to the relevant situation? Thanks.
Wang Wentao
Let me answer this question. Thank you for your concern for business work, especially consumption promotion work. The question you just raised is about the "Year of Consumption Promotion" and the promotion of continued expansion of consumption. Let me introduce in detail what we are going to do:
The first is to successfully organize a series of activities of the "Consumption Promotion Year". Last year, we held a series of activities focused on restoring and expanding consumption, which achieved remarkable results. This year, we will closely follow the key word of "sustained expansion" mentioned at the Central Economic Work Conference to enhance the rebound momentum of the consumer market. We have designated this year as the "Consumption Promotion Year" and last year as the "Consumption Boost Year." Focusing on the keyword "continuous expansion", we will work with relevant departments and parties to organize various consumption promotion activities to create a strong consumption atmosphere and provide residents with more diverse and richer consumption experiences. For example, we will highlight the festive season, combine traditional festivals, public holidays and other peak consumption seasons, and organize activities such as the online New Year Festival, the digital business to promote agriculture to celebrate the harvest, and the ice and snow consumption season. The Online New Year Shopping Festival is being held now, everyone is welcome to pay attention. For another example, we will highlight local characteristics, guide and support each region to explore its own advantages, combine local characteristics and folk customs, and cultivate iconic event brands, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Consumer Season, Shanghai's "May 5th Shopping Festival", and Zhejiang's "Zheli Lai Consumption" , Chongqing "Love Shang Chongqing" and so on.
Second, we will promote the trade-in of cars, home appliances, etc. This is a key point in promoting consumption this year. We have made some statistics and found that my country's automobile and home appliance markets have moved from a pure "incremental era" to an "incremental and inventory-focused era." In 2023, there will be about 340 million cars in existence, and the number of major categories of home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners will exceed 3 billion units. Some home appliances have been used for more than ten or twenty years, and there is great demand and potential for replacement. At the same time, we have also seen that the replacement of old consumer goods such as automobiles and home appliances is a very systematic project, which requires coordinated linkage and comprehensive policies among production, supply and marketing, upstream and downstream, government, enterprises and citizens, online and offline. We will strengthen support and guidance, take the improvement of technology, energy consumption, emission and other standards as the driving force, promote the opening up of difficulties and blockages in replacing old ones with new ones, stabilize and expand traditional consumption, and better meet the needs of replacing and upgrading consumer goods. All of this will be achieved in Promote it based on respecting the wishes of consumers.
The third is to promote the consumption of “trendy” domestic products. Nowadays, high-quality domestic products carry the national spirit and excellent traditional culture, while "trendy products" represent the trend of fashion consumption and quality consumption. We have seen that the "cross-border" collision and integration of domestic products and "trendy products" have stimulated new hot spots in residents' lives and consumption. The Ministry of Commerce will continue to pay attention to the consumption of domestic "trendy products" and has also carried out a series of related work. For example, we have been deploying the recognition of "Chinese time-honored brands" since 2006. Last year, we improved the dynamic management mechanism of "in and out" and removed some brands that have been underperforming for a long time. At the same time, in accordance with relevant regulations and standards, we plan to recognize A new batch of more than 300 "Chinese time-honored brands". Many of the products of these brands are domestic products that we are familiar with. In response to the fashionable, customized and personalized consumer needs, they have launched many "trendy products" and are deeply loved by consumers, especially modern young people. This year, we will also successfully organize the "Time-honored Brand Carnival" and the "Time-honored Brand Digital Museum". Through these methods, we will promote the protection, inheritance and innovative development of time-honored brands, and lay a solid cultural and commercial foundation for the consumption of "trendy" domestic products.
Fourth, we will continue to optimize the consumption environment. The consumption environment and circulation facilities development levels in cities and rural areas in my country are different, and different methods must be adopted to strengthen policy guidance and promotion. In cities, we will continue to promote the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities, gradually improve the urban business system led by pedestrian streets, supported by smart business districts, and based on convenient living areas, and continuously improve the city's consumption level. In rural areas, we will thoroughly implement the three-year action for county commerce, speed up the filling of rural commercial shortcomings, build a rural circulation network with complete facilities and smooth two-way, promote the "bringing of industrial products to the countryside" and the "entering of agricultural products into the city", and continue to release the power of rural areas. consumption potential. Thanks.
CNBC reporter
The scale of China’s foreign investment attraction will decline in 2023. What are the main reasons? What measures will the Ministry of Commerce take to attract more foreign investment this year? What areas are you paying more attention to? Thanks.
Wang Wentao
Thank you for your question. This is a question that everyone is paying close attention to and is hotly discussed. I am willing to give a more detailed answer.
Domestic and foreign media have paid close attention to some fluctuations in the scale of China's foreign investment attraction, and many have reported on it. I won’t talk about a series of data analysis first, but I will talk about perspective and vision first. What I want to emphasize is that this issue should be observed and analyzed from multiple perspectives. Prime Minister Li Qiang made a speech in Davos not long ago. He said that when looking at the Chinese economy, only by opening up the depth of our horizons and conducting a panoramic observation can we be objective and comprehensive and see the whole picture. This is how I will answer your question.
If we look at it over a longer period of time, our country’s investment scale is still at a high level in recent years. Last year, China's actual use of foreign investment was US$163.25 billion, equivalent to 1.13 trillion yuan in RMB. Although there was a year-on-year decrease, the scale was second only to two special years, 2021 and 2022, and was the third highest in history.
We open up the structure and look not only at the numbers, but also at the investment structure, which means we need to analyze its quality. my country's investment structure continues to be optimized, with the proportion of investment in high-tech industries reaching 37.4%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 2022, and the proportion reaching a record high. We pay special attention to the manufacturing sector, and the proportion of investment attraction increased by 1.6 percentage points to 27.9%. The implementation of some foreign-invested projects, especially large projects in some countries, will affect the country's ranking, so there is a certain degree of uncertainty. Judging from the country-specific investment situation in 2023, investment in China from developed countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands has increased significantly, and the number of new foreign-invested enterprises established in China by the European Union, the United States, and Japan has increased.
As mentioned before, there are some fluctuations in short-term foreign investment data, which is a normal phenomenon in line with economic laws. In particular, the implementation of some large projects will often affect the fluctuations in the current year and next year and the year after. The fundamentals of China's long-term economic growth have not changed. China adheres to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, has always opened its arms, and sincerely welcomes companies from all over the world to invest in China. We firmly believe that China will continue to become a hot spot for foreign investment.
Last year, in accordance with the deployment of the central government, the Ministry of Commerce launched the "Invest in China Year" investment promotion activities. It hosted a total of 20 key events throughout the year, promoted more than 600 supporting activities in various places, facilitated the signing of some large projects, and solved many problems. . We have also established a roundtable meeting system for foreign-funded enterprises to further strengthen regular exchanges and communications with foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations. My colleagues and I held 15 roundtable meetings at the ministerial level last year, with more than 400 foreign-funded companies and foreign business associations participating. We learned face-to-face about the companies’ suggestions and demands and continued to promote solutions. We have also heard from some foreign-funded enterprises that these activities solve problems on the one hand, and on the other hand they demonstrate China’s determination to open up and its attitude of welcoming foreign investment. We have also seen the pragmatic and efficient style of the Chinese government and have strengthened their commitment to the Chinese market and China. economic confidence. Some foreign-funded enterprises say, where is the next "China"? The next "China" will still be China. It will continue to choose China and take root in China.
Based on last year's "Invest in China Year", we will continue to build the "Invest in China" brand this year and initially consider holding more than 20 investment promotion activities at home and abroad, including a landmark event, the "Invest in China" 2024 Summit, and also There are 10 overseas events and 12 domestic events. We will support local governments to organize some supporting activities under the "Invest in China" brand and combine their own location advantages, resource endowments, and industrial characteristics to form a "chessboard" for attracting investment across the country. The media here may have paid attention to or reported on the "Invest in China Year" activities last year. Please continue to report on our "Invest in China" brand series of activities this year. I hope you will do some comprehensive and in-depth reports to enhance the influence of the event.
In addition, while building the "Invest in China" brand, we will continue to implement the "24 Foreign Investment Rules" introduced last year, promote the relaxation of foreign investment access, continue to optimize the foreign investment environment, and make good use of the roundtable of foreign-funded enterprises and the appeals of foreign-funded enterprises. Collection management system. The foreign-funded enterprise roundtable has been institutionalized and is scheduled to be held once a month, with a total of 12 meetings divided into different industries, regions or countries, making our roundtable a platform for candid and pragmatic exchanges with foreign-funded enterprises.
Yesterday, a Japanese economic delegation came. I had a discussion with them in the afternoon. They all hope to develop in China with peace of mind. We are also willing to allow all foreign-funded enterprises, including Japanese companies, to develop in China with peace of mind and peace of mind. It is to strive to realize "China will be the next China" proposed by foreign-funded enterprises. thank you all.
Reporter, Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine
President Xi Jinping announced eight actions for high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" at the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum. I would like to ask, what new considerations and measures does the Ministry of Commerce have in implementing the eight actions and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with countries involved in the “Belt and Road” initiative? Thanks.
Vice Minister of Commerce Guo Tingting
Thank you to this reporter for your question. In October last year, the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum was successfully held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech and announced eight actions to jointly build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, which laid the foundation for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road". The next golden decade points the way forward and provides the fundamentals to follow.
In the past year, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant parties, has solidly promoted the “Belt and Road” economic and trade cooperation and achieved new progress and new results. It is mainly summarized into three aspects:
First, the scale is steadily expanding. In 2023, the volume of goods trade between my country and co-founding countries will reach 19.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.8%, and its proportion in total foreign trade will increase by 1.2 percentage points to 46.6%. Our non-financial direct investment in jointly building the country was 224.09 billion yuan, an increase of 28.4%. The turnover of contracted projects was 930.5 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8%.
Second, quality continues to improve. The turnover of completed national energy conservation and environmental protection contracting projects increased by 28.3%. A number of landmark projects and "small but beautiful" projects were smoothly advanced, and nearly 700 various assistance projects were organized and implemented in the co-building countries.
Third, cooperation is closer. During the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, we successfully held a special forum on unimpeded trade and jointly released the "International Economic and Trade Cooperation Framework Initiative for Digital Economy and Green Development" with more than 30 countries. Throughout the year, 23 new investment cooperation memorandums were signed in green, digital, blue economy and other fields. Up to now, we have established trade unimpeded working groups with 22 co-building countries, and established investment cooperation working groups with 55 co-building countries. The number of “Silk Road E-commerce” partner countries has increased to 30.
Next, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s important speech, earnestly implement the eight actions, and promote the “Belt and Road” economic and trade cooperation to continue to deepen and become more solid. In the next step, we will focus on the “four deepenings”:
First, deepen trade and investment cooperation. In terms of trade, we will actively expand the import of high-quality goods from the co-founding countries and promote more balanced development of trade. Actively expand service trade. Make better use of the role of important trade channels such as China-Europe freight trains and the New Land-Sea Corridor. In terms of investment, Minister Wang Wentao just introduced the relevant considerations for doing a good job in foreign investment. We will also effectively provide a better environment and services for the co-building countries to invest in China, and welcome to share the opportunities of China's development. At the same time, enterprises will be encouraged to innovate foreign investment methods, including expanding tripartite or multi-party market cooperation, and promoting the quality and upgrading of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones.
The second is to deepen the construction of cooperation projects. Coordinate and promote landmark projects and "small but beautiful" people's livelihood projects. We will strengthen communication and docking with co-building countries, jointly build energy, transportation, communications and other infrastructure projects, and build a three-dimensional interconnection network. At the same time, we will focus on areas such as health, education, environmental protection, and poverty alleviation to promote the implementation of more projects that benefit local areas and people, and better promote the economic and social development of the jointly built country.
The third is to deepen cooperation in new areas. For example, in the green field, we will continue to polish the green foundation of the Belt and Road Initiative, sign investment cooperation memoranda in the green field with more countries, and encourage companies to deepen practical cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy, and green transportation. In the digital field, we will expand "Silk Road e-commerce" cooperation, accelerate the construction of the "Silk Road e-commerce" cooperation pioneer zone, and successfully host the third global digital trade expo.
The fourth is to deepen the implementation of cooperation results. We will make every effort to implement the economic and trade results of the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, implement and promote the "International Economic and Trade Cooperation Framework Initiative for Digital Economy and Green Development". Promote the construction of China-Africa in-depth economic and trade cooperation pilot zones, and jointly build economic and trade innovation and development demonstration parks with ASEAN countries. At the same time, we will negotiate or upgrade free trade agreements and investment protection agreements with more co-building countries to provide a more powerful institutional guarantee for high-quality co-construction of the "Belt and Road".
Thanks.
Reporter, American International Market News Service
What progress does the Ministry of Commerce expect to see in China’s application to join the CPTPP in 2024? What measures will be taken this year to advance the accession process?
Wang Shouwen
Thank you for your question. We attach great importance to China's joining the CPTPP. We have organized relevant departments and industries to conduct a full, comprehensive and in-depth assessment of all terms of the CPTPP. We have also conducted a comprehensive, in-depth and sufficient study on the rules for trade in goods, trade in services and investment involved in the CPTPP. Our conclusion is that we are fully confident and capable of meeting the high standards set by the CPTPP. To this end, we prepared a communication document on China's accession to the CPTPP last year, introducing and explaining our position on matters involving all obligations of the CPTPP. This document has been given to all members of the CPTPP.
You asked what measures we will take this year. First, we will continue to fully communicate with CPTPP members at all levels, including using multilateral international conferences such as the G20 and APEC to have in-depth exchanges with colleagues in CPTPP member states. Second, in 2023, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and in accordance with high-standard international economic and trade rules, including CPTPP rules, we issued two very important documents. One is "On Conditional Free Trade Pilot Zones and Free Trade Zones". The second document is the "Overall Plan for Comprehensively Aligning with International High-Standard Economic and Trade Rules to Promote High-level Institutional Opening of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone". In line with high international standards, domestic institutional opening-up measures have been formulated and implemented in China. If we achieve good results, we will further replicate and promote it. We will continue to strengthen exchanges externally and strengthen pilots and experiments internally. I believe that our conditions for joining CPTPP will be more mature this year. Thanks.
Phoenix TV reporter
Last year, the meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States launched the "San Francisco Vision" for the future. We have also noticed that last year the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the US Department of Commerce established a multi-level communication mechanism. How does the Ministry of Commerce view the trend of Sino-US economic and trade relations this year? What are the specific considerations in economic and trade cooperation? Thanks.
Wang Wentao
Let me answer this question. Let’s talk about the big picture first. 2024 is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Looking back on the past 45 years, from the economic and trade perspective, trade between the two countries has increased more than 200 times in 45 years, with two-way investment stock exceeding 260 billion US dollars. According to our statistics, more than 70,000 American companies have invested and started operations in China. China and the United States, one is the largest developing country and the other is the largest developed country, are each other's important trading partners. Two-way trade and investment are growing rapidly, and industrial and supply chains are closely integrated. The content of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation has expanded from single trade to all areas of the economy, making important contributions to the economic and social development of the two countries and the improvement of people's well-being.
Last November, the heads of state of China and the United States successfully met in San Francisco and formed the future-oriented "San Francisco Vision", which pointed out the direction for the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries and effectively enhanced the confidence and expectations of the two countries' business communities in economic and trade cooperation. We have always believed that the common interests between China and the United States in the economic and trade field far outweigh their differences. The two sides should strengthen dialogue and communication, strive to help enterprises solve various problems they face in carrying out practical economic and trade cooperation, and explore the potential of economic and trade cooperation. For example, many companies in the two countries, especially US-funded ones, have reported that their biggest concern now is Sino-US relations and they are worried that economic and trade issues will be politicized. Some US-funded companies told us that if we want to "remove risks" now, the biggest risk is this, bar none. They also expressed the hope that I could bring this issue to my American colleagues on an appropriate occasion. Enterprises are also concerned about other issues, including the imposition of additional tariffs, which will significantly increase operating costs, and restrictions on two-way investment, which will hinder market access. Because sanctions bring uncertainty to companies themselves and their partners, compliance costs are greatly increased. These are issues that we need to discuss in the future, and they are also issues that need to be resolved by both of us. We have great sincerity in promoting the resolution of issues that companies are concerned about.
In the next step, China is willing to work with the United States to conscientiously implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco and give full play to the communication and exchange mechanism established by the two countries' ministries of commerce. This communication and exchange mechanism consists of ministerial-level talks and vice-ministerial meetings twice a year. , and the third is monthly consultations at the department and bureau level, as well as an export control information exchange mechanism. The two sides maintain regular communication, properly manage differences, enhance understanding and mutual trust, promote practical cooperation, and strive to create a good environment for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, especially for stable expectations of enterprises. Thanks.
Reporter at Southern Metropolis Daily
In 2023, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export will continue to maintain rapid growth. What are the specific characteristics? The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized the need to expand cross-border e-commerce exports. What specific work will the Ministry of Commerce carry out in the new year? Thanks.
Wang Shouwen
Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to accelerate the development of new business formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce. Cross-border e-commerce is one of the new driving forces of foreign trade. Minister Wang Wentao just introduced that foreign trade achieved positive growth last year, in which cross-border e-commerce played an important role. Last year, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.38 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.6%, which was 15.4 percentage points higher than the national import and export growth rate.
The number of cross-border e-commerce entities is growing. Preliminary statistics show that there are now 645,000 companies in China with foreign trade import and export performance, including more than 100,000 cross-border e-commerce entities. This is a very remarkable force.
The cross-border e-commerce ecosystem continues to be optimized. As everyone knows in the past, American cross-border e-commerce platform companies are very famous. Now China also has a very powerful and famous cross-border e-commerce platform, and their APP downloads rank among the top in the world. We have a mature platform and overseas warehouses. By the end of last year, our overseas warehouses had reached 1,800, an increase of more than 200 compared with 2022, and the number of all-cargo aircraft reached 255, an increase of 32 compared with 2022.
Another achievement, our brand building has also made good progress. For example, the best thing about cross-border e-commerce is that it bypasses middlemen and directly faces foreign consumers with the brands of Chinese export companies. By the end of last year, we had registered more than 30,000 overseas trademarks, and by the end of 2022, we would only have 20,000.
This year, we will continue to cultivate cross-border e-commerce, a new driving force for foreign trade, and have the following measures: First, we will introduce "Several Measures to Expand Cross-Border E-commerce Exports and Promote the Development of Overseas Warehouses." The second is to develop "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt", encourage traditional foreign trade companies to transform into cross-border e-commerce, support leading companies to drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream supply chains, and rely on cross-border e-commerce industrial parks in various places to incubate more start-up companies. The third is to strengthen industry exchange and training. Yesterday, we organized an on-site cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse meeting in Shenzhen, inviting government departments, industry representatives and cross-border e-commerce enterprise representatives to communicate. This year we plan to increase training efforts and train 100,000 people. The fourth is to promote the promulgation of the "Guidelines for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Cross-Border E-Commerce". In the development process of cross-border e-commerce, we must ensure that it protects intellectual property rights in all aspects of the first journey, last journey, payment, marketing, and overseas warehouses. Just now, Vice Minister Guo Tingting mentioned the “Belt and Road” cooperation. Cross-border e-commerce is an important part of cooperation with co-building countries in the “Belt and Road” initiative. We will support international exchanges in the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone and the “Silk Road E-commerce” cooperation pilot zone. We believe that cross-border e-commerce will play a more important role this year as a new driver of foreign trade. Thanks.
Investment Promotion Bureau of Sihui City
Address: 3F, Administrative Center, Dongcheng Street, Sihui City
Tel: 86-758-3611228
Fax: 86-758-3611188
Email: SHQYFW@VIP.163.com
Zhaoqing Investment Promotion Bureau
Address: 6/F, No. 18, Jiangbin West Road, Duanzhou District, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province
Tel: 86-758-2899202
Fax: 86-758-2282600
Email: zqszsj@126.com
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