The head of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce talks about China's foreign trade in the first quarter of 2020

In the first quarter of this year, affected by the epidemic, China's total import and export volume was 6.57 trillion yuan, down 6.4%。Among them, exit 3.33 trillion yuan, down 11.4%；进口3.24 trillion yuan, down 0.7%;Trade surplus 983.300 million yuan, down 80.6%。It mainly presents the following characteristics: From the market point of view, the export to ASEAN increased 2.By 4%, exports to countries along the Belt and Road decreased by 1.8%, respectively, better than the overall export growth 13.8和9.Six percentage points。Exports to traditional markets such as the United States, the European Union and Japan fell by 23 percent each.6%、14.2%、14.1%。From the point of view of the main business, the export of private enterprises accounted for 51.4%, an increase of 2% over the same period last year.1 percentage point, reflecting strong resilience。From the perspective of main products, the growth rate of integrated circuits and medical devices exports was higher than the overall 23.3、10.Two percentage points。Exports of clothing, shoes, furniture and other products were greatly impacted, and exports of seven categories of labor-intensive products fell deeper than the overall 3.Nine percentage points。From the perspective of trade mode, processing trade exports decreased by 17.3%, a deeper decline than the overall 5%.Nine percentage points。From the monthly point of view, as the domestic resumption of work and production accelerated, foreign trade enterprises accelerated pre-holiday order production, and rushed to meet the time to fulfill the agreement, while the impact of overseas epidemics had a lagging effect, and the decline in imports and exports narrowed in March。 

At present, the phased results of epidemic prevention and control in China have been further consolidated, and foreign trade enterprises have made important progress in resuming work and production。At the same time, however, the continued spread of the international epidemic has had a severe impact on the world economy and trade, and uncertainties and destabilizing factors have increased significantly。Major international organizations have sharply lowered their forecasts for global economic and trade growth this year。The impact of the epidemic on foreign trade has shifted from the supply-side to the demand-side。From the recent survey of the key provinces and cities, the import and export chambers of commerce, and key enterprises, the decline in external demand is the most important difficulty faced by foreign trade enterprises, and enterprises generally reflect the cancellation or delay of orders in hand and the difficulty of receiving new orders。

According to the decision of the CPC Central Committee and The State Council on coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development，The Ministry of Commerce will work with all localities and departments to implement precise policies and help enterprises，We promoted the introduction of a series of policy measures to stabilize foreign trade，It mainly includes full tax rebates for 1,464 products，Give full play to the role of export credit insurance，We will increase financial support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through special reloans and rediscount，A number of comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce will be set up，We supported the development of processing trade，The Canton Fair was held online for the first time，Actively help enterprises turn crises into opportunities，Pull through，Make every effort to stabilize the basic foreign trade and foreign investment。   

下一步，我们将坚决贯彻落实习近平总书记重要讲话和指示批示精神，在坚决打赢疫情防控阻击战、加强疫情防控国际合作的同时，持续密切跟踪外贸形势，坚持底线思维，把困难想得更充分一些。We will resist internal and external pressures, take the initiative, give full play to the advantages of the foreign trade industry with full potential and strong competitiveness, and guide enterprises to innovate and develop and turn crises into opportunities。Further pay close attention to the implementation of a series of policies issued by The State Council, effectively reduce the burden for enterprises, carefully run the third Import Expo, help enterprises actively carry out foreign trade, ensure the market, ensure orders, minimize the impact of the epidemic, and go all out to stabilize the basic foreign trade and foreign investment。