You are here: China > Government > SCIO Briefings >

SCIO briefing on China's imports and exports in 2017

: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 12, 2018

Adjust font size:

Speaker:
Mr. Huang Songping, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs

Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, vice director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office

Date:
Jan. 12, 2018

Inter Press Service News Agency:

This year, the overall foreign trade situation remains favorable for China. However, uncertain and unstable factors still exit in the international economy and foreign trade. Would you like to give us some examples about these factors? And how do you view the influence of fluctuations in the RMB and trade conflicts between China and the United States on the exports of China in the long run?

Huang Songping:

I would like to first answer your questions about the RMB exchange rate. We believe that imports and exports will be influenced by the exchange rate, but the impact of it is limited. Firstly, a change in the exchange rate is a double-edged sword. When there is a RMB devaluation, companies will benefit from exports, but the cost of imports rises at the same time. Secondly, within the global value chain which is characterized by cross-district industrial division and intra-industry trade, the exchange rate and its impact on imports and exports in one economy will quickly transfer to another economy, which will further ease the effects.

As the global economy recovers amid uncertainties in the normalization of monetary policy; to maintain the RMB exchange rate within a reasonable range will give confidence to companies and promote the stable development of foreign trade. Therefore, the government has actively expanded cross-border and investment RMB settlements in a bid to help companies to enhance their capacity to manage risks.

Uncertain and unstable factors have been growing amidst global complexities. Overall, there are many favorable opportunities for development as well as the main constraining factors in developing foreign trade. Firstly, the global economy, faced with a series of deep-seated and structural problems, is experiencing a weak recovery. Secondly, the global manufacturing industry is witnessing increasingly intense international competition.

On the one hand, thanks to their cheap labor and land, emerging countries are pushing forward medium and low-end manufacturing development, posing challenges to our traditionally strong product exports. On the other hand, many developed countries are restructuring their economy, re-industrializing and re-shoring their manufacturing sector. Thirdly, we meet at a time of rising trade protectionism. The number and value of Chinese products under trade remedy investigations has maintained at a fairly high level in recent years. These are the unstable and uncertain factors.

The United States has become the second biggest trade partner of China. According to the statistics, bilateral trade was worth 3.95 trillion yuan in 2017, up 15.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 14.2 percent of total foreign trade. China's exports to the United States increased 14.5 percent to reach 2.91 trillion yuan while imports surged 17.3 percent to 1.01 trillion yuan. The trade surplus with the United States rose 13 percent to 1.87 trillion yuan. Last year, Sino-U.S. trade realized rapid growth. China and the United States., as two of the world's leading economies, are expected to deepen their economic and trade cooperation, to achieve mutual benefits and to forge ahead with building a prosperous global economy. Thank you.