In 2019, the General Administration of Customs will be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the second and third plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee and commit to the arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference. Sticking to an overall tone of making progress while maintaining stability, we will work to stabilize employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign and domestic investments, and expectations, and promote various customs reforms with a focus on optimizing the business environment at ports and promoting higher quality while maintaining stability in foreign trade to better serve the socioeconomic development of the nation.

Now, I'm ready to take your questions.

Hu Kaihong:

Thank you, Mr. Li. Now, the floor is open. Please identify the media outlet you represent before raising questions.

CCTV:

Director Li, can you summarize China's foreign trade performance in 2018? What do you think are the new features and highlights of China's foreign trade development during the past year? Thank you.

Li Kuiwen:

Thank you for your question. China's foreign trade achieved steady growth in 2018; the scale of imports and exports reached a new historical high; and quality and efficiency were further improved.

The achievements were hard-won and based on the following five aspects:

First, the business environment is friendly. Last year, China introduced a series of policies and measures to reduce taxes and optimize the business environment at ports; therefore the level of foreign trade facilitation has significantly improved. According to the "Doing Business 2019" report released by the World Bank, China has advanced 32 ranks in business environment, and the cross-border trade made a progress from the 97th position to the 65th position, also 32 advancing ranks. In addition, China increased its export tax rebate rate of some commodities two times last year, and lowered import tariffs on medicines, automobiles and accessories, daily consumer goods; thus promoting the increase of exports and imports.

Second, there has been an increase in foreign trade enterprises. The Chinese economy maintained a steady growth in 2018 and operated within its proper range; this provided a good environment for foreign trade development. According to our statistics, the number of enterprises with actual import and export performances has increased from 436,000 in 2017 to 470,000 now.

Third, the wide range of trade partners. In 2018, China's foreign trade market became more diversified. In the process of maintaining growth with traditional trade partners, China also proactively encouraged exchanges with other countries and regions. In 2018, the import and export growth rate with countries along the Belt and Road routes, Africa and Latin America, was respectively 3.6, 6.7 and 6 percentage points higher than the total imports and exports growth rate.

Four, the growth momentum has been strong. In terms of quantity and price factors, import and export growth was strong in 2018. According to estimates by the General Administration of Customs, China's import quantity index was 106.4 and the export quantity index was 103.6. The contribution rate of import and export both exceeded 50 percent, and the growth momentum became more solid.

Five, high quality and efficiency. China's import and export proceeded in a more balanced way with more coordinated regional development and improved product structure. From the perspective of products, the export of some mechanical and electrical products and equipment manufacturing products maintained great growth momentum. For example, the export of metal processing machines grew by 19.2 percent; mobile phones grew by 9.8 percent and automobiles increased by 8.3 percent. The import of equipment, key parts and components of high-quality consumer goods also grew rapidly. For example, integrated circuits increased by 16.9 percent; consumer goods increased by 10.9 percent, and aquatic and marine products increased by 39.9 percent respectively. The quality and efficiency of both imports and exports improved to a great extent.

That's all of my opinions regarding China's foreign trade situation in 2018.

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