China proved its capability to ensure stable, high-quality foreign trade growth by registering a total trade volume of 30 trillion yuan ($4.26 trillion) by end of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.
Li Xingqian, head of the ministry's Department of Foreign Investment Administration, said during a media forum that the amount of foreign trade in the country, given trade uncertainties, has achieved stable growth.
"From January to November, China's volume of foreign trade amounted to 28.5 trillion yuan, up 2.4 percent on an annualized basis. However, China's exports grew faster than most other major global economies," he said.
Import, Export Rise
Statistics from the General Customs Administration showed that in 2018, China's overall import and export volume was 30,51 trillion yuan, 9.7 percent higher than in 2017.
Li said the ministry would take more steps to improve imports to maintain stable and high-quality growth of foreign trade. To unlock the import capacity and also to normalize the organization of the China International Import Expo, it will continue to lower tariffs and administrative costs.
Trade facilitation, Li stressed, should be strengthened. "Furthermore, a batch of trade demonstration zones for imports will be developed and platforms will be created to encourage import innovation," he said.
Zhao Ping, Director of the Department of International Trade Research at the China Council for the Promotion of the International Trade Academy, said the country's initiative to increase imports "is among the many important steps towards promoting the sustainable growth of foreign trade."
Key Factors For Trade
Analysts said that the expansion of imports of special high-quality products and high-tech products not available in the country will not only meet the immediate demands of consumers but will also have an obvious demonstrative effect on other consumers.
Ren Hongbin, China's assistant trade minister, said that the development of trade in services is another important aspect of promoting foreign trade.
"This year's service sector reform has opened up more trade channels to pump growth, providing new impetus for foreign trade creation," Ren said.
According to Ren, China's foreign service trade volume increased by 2.5 percent year-on-year to 4.4 trillion yuan from January to October.
He said commerce ministry officials will be supporting pilot projects to boost the service trade sector in the next phase, develop new trade business models, and enhance international service trade cooperation.
Malaysia-China Trade Ties
Meanwhile, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) anticipates that next year, after Chinese investment in the country slowed down in 2019 due to global trade tensions, Malaysia will receia ve a huge chunk of investment from China.
Malaysia's efforts to create a "special path" to attract capital flows from the world's second-largest economy would be a boon for Chinese investment.
"We believe there are Chinese investments, even though a slight decline has occurred. But the reduction does not reflect the rise in other countries' spending," MITI officials said.
