Trade data shows resilience of the Chinese economy

In yet another sign of the resilience of the Chinese economy, the country's foreign trade reached a historic high of 30.51 trillion yuan ($4.62 trillion) in 2018, an increase of 9.7 percent from the previous year, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs released on Monday.

That is indeed remarkable given the rising protectionism globally and the ongoing trade frictions between China and the United States, and it reflects how well China has adapted itself to the fast-changing and complicated external situation, with the government providing timely policy support.

Measures already taken range from the "significant" lowering of tariffs on imports such as vehicles and auto parts, moves to broaden market access and reforms to improve the business regulatory environment. The recent World Bank's Doing Business 2019 report, which ranks economies based on how easy it is to do business in them, identified China as one of the top 10 improvers in business regulation, rising to 46th compared to 78th last year.