Ministry of Commerce: my country’s import and export trade is expected to improve in the second half

Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang said on the 18th that my country’s foreign trade situation is expected to improve in the second half of the year, and a series of measures will be taken to strive to achieve the growth target of foreign trade exports throughout the year.
Shen Danyang said at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce that so far this year, the foreign trade situation has been relatively severe. As far as exports are concerned, the continued sluggish external demand, the weakening of traditional competitive advantages, and the substantial depreciation of the currencies of some major market countries against the U.S. dollar are the three biggest pressures my country currently faces in the steady growth of exports.
Data show that in May, my country’s exports to the United States increased by 7.8% year-on-year, while exports to the European Union, Japan, and South Korea declined respectively. Exports to the United States accounted for 18.8% of total exports, a new high since August 2010.
Shen Danyang said that the recent U.S. economic recovery has been relatively strong and market demand has increased. However, the passive appreciation of the RMB has affected my country’s export competitiveness to the European Union, Japan and other countries. Since the second half of last year, the RMB exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has remained stable, and accordingly, exports to the United States have also been relatively stable. During the same period, the euro and the yen depreciated sharply against the US dollar, causing the RMB to appreciate by 21.1% and 21.9% respectively relative to the euro and the yen, which put great pressure on my country’s exports to the EU and Japan.
According to reports, the Ministry of Commerce is working with relevant departments to formulate new foreign trade promotion measures, focusing on helping enterprises reduce their burdens, including further reducing or reducing various charges in the import and export links, promoting the implementation of established reduction and exemption policies; and better solving the problems of difficult and expensive financing ; Trade facilitation and improvement of the business environment, including further introduction of policies and measures for cross-border e-commerce.
Regarding the issue of foreign trade surplus, Shen Danyang emphasized that China does not deliberately pursue foreign trade surplus. The main reason for the rapid growth of my country’s foreign trade surplus is that falling international commodity prices and sluggish domestic demand have lowered imports.
According to preliminary calculations by the Ministry of Commerce, the decline in prices of bulk commodities such as refined oil, steel, copper, soybeans, iron ore, and crude oil in the first five months has led to an increase in the foreign trade surplus of nearly 80 billion U.S. dollars. After excluding this amount, the size of the surplus will decrease by 36.7%. %.
Shen Danyang said that if commodity prices can further rebound in the second half of the year and my country’s import measures are further implemented, the growth rate of the surplus is bound to slow down.