Robust surge in foreign trade makes it reliable growth driver

China's exports reached 2.02 trillion yuan ($291.53 billion) in April, growing by 16.8 percent year-on-year, or 8.5 percent in US dollar terms.

In the just-concluded 133rd China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, the total exhibition area, the number of offline exhibitors and the total number of visitors all touched record highs. Actually, China's imports and exports totaled 13.32 trillion yuan in the first four months of this year, up 5.8 percent year-on-year, with exports growing by 10.6 percent.

According to the World Trade Organization, the volume of global trade in goods is expected to grow by only 1 percent this year, 2.5 percentage points less than last year. Against the backdrop of high global inflation and weakening external demand due to the sluggish growth of major economies, the gains in China's foreign trade are indeed a hard-won performance.

China's automobile exports reached more than 3 million units in 2022, making China the second largest auto exporter in place of Germany; auto exports grew by 120.3 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year. In the first four months, the imports and exports of private enterprises grew by 15.8 percent, accounting for 52.9 percent of China's total foreign trade, 4.6 percentage points higher than in the same period last year.

Since the beginning of this year, local governments have introduced a slew of measures to promote the development of foreign trade. At the end of April, the Chinese government launched a series of policy measures, including promoting the full resumption of domestic offline exhibitions, organizing direct customer connection between automobile and shipping enterprises, and supporting foreign trade enterprises to expand sales channels through cross-border e-commerce, opening up new space for foreign trade enterprises.

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is due to take full effect for its 15 member countries on June 2, the RCEP certificate of origin will be welcomed by more companies, bringing more benefits to Chinese foreign trade enterprises.

As the US and Europe are still raising interest rates, the downward pressure on the global economy is further increasing, adding external pressures on China's foreign trade. However, with the launch of domestic exhibitions, more convenient personnel exchanges and deepening trade innovation, it is believed that China's foreign trade will send a stronger signal to the world about China's accelerating economic recovery.