In the first quarter of this year, affected by the epidemic, my country's total import and export volume was 6.57 trillion yuan, down 6.4%. Among them, exports were 3.33 trillion yuan, down 11.4%; imports were 3.24 trillion yuan, down 0.7%; the trade surplus was 98.33 billion yuan, down 80.6%. The main features are as follows: From a market perspective, exports to ASEAN increased by 2.4%, and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” decreased by 1.8%, which were better than the overall export growth rate of 13.8 and 9.6 percentage points respectively. Exports to traditional markets such as the United States, the European Union, and Japan fell by 23.6%, 14.2%, and 14.1% respectively. From the perspective of business entities, private enterprises accounted for 51.4% of exports, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the same period last year, showing strong resilience. In terms of major products, the growth rate of integrated circuits and medical equipment exports was 23.3 and 10.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate respectively. The export of clothing, footwear, furniture and other products was greatly affected. The export of the seven categories of labor-intensive products fell deeper than the overall 3.9%. In terms of trade methods, exports of processing trade fell by 17.3%, a drop of 5.9 percentage points deeper than the overall rate. From a monthly perspective, as the progress of domestic resumption of work and production has accelerated, foreign trade companies have accelerated pre-holiday order production and rushed to rush to fulfill contracts. At the same time, the impact of overseas epidemics has a lag effect, and the decline in imports and exports in March has narrowed. 

 

The current staged results of domestic epidemic prevention and control have been further consolidated, and foreign trade companies have made important progress in resuming work and production. But at the same time, the international epidemic continues to spread, which has severely impacted the world economy and trade, and uncertainties and unstable factors have increased significantly. Major international organizations have significantly lowered their global economic and trade growth expectations for the year. The impact of the epidemic on foreign trade has shifted from being mainly on the supply side to on the demand side. According to our recent investigations of key provinces and cities, chambers of commerce for import and export, and key enterprises, the decline in external demand is the most important difficulty faced by foreign trade companies. Companies generally report cancellation or postponement of existing orders and difficulties in receiving new orders.

 

In accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, the Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with various localities and departments, accurately implements policies and assists enterprises, and promotes the introduction of a series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade, mainly including 1464 items Full product tax rebates, give full play to the role of export credit insurance, increase financial support for small, medium and micro enterprises through special re-lending and rediscount methods, set up a batch of comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones, support the development of processing trade, and hold the Canton Fair online for the first time And so on, actively help enterprises turn crises into opportunities, tide over difficulties, and go all out to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment.   

 

In the next step, we will resolutely implement the spirit of General Secretary Jinping’s important speech and instructions. While resolutely winning the fight against the epidemic and strengthening international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control, we will continue to closely follow the foreign trade situation, adhere to bottom-line thinking, and think about difficulties. More fully. Withstand internal and external pressures, take the initiative, give full play to the advantages of the foreign trade industry's full potential and strong competitiveness, and guide enterprises to innovate and develop and turn crises into opportunities. We will further strengthen the implementation of a series of policies issued by the State Council to effectively reduce the burden on enterprises, carefully organize the third session of the International Import Expo, help enterprises to actively carry out foreign trade, protect the market, guarantee orders, and minimize the impact of the epidemic. Go to stabilize the basic market of foreign trade and foreign investment.