Enterprises Are Making Every Effort To Stabilize Orders And Expand The Market. China'S Foreign Trade Continues To Show Steady Progress.

The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. At the press conference, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said that since the beginning of this year, global trade has continued to be weak due to factors such as high inflation, high inventories, and geopolitical risks. Faced with multiple risks and challenges, the business system implemented the work arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on stabilizing the scale and optimizing the structure of foreign trade, and solidly promoted the implementation of policies to stabilize foreign trade. The majority of foreign trade companies actively innovated and made every effort to stabilize orders and expand the market. China's foreign trade operations were generally stable.
World Trade Organization (WTO) data shows that global exports fell by 4.6% in the first half of the year, including a 1.3% decline in the first quarter and a 7.8% decline in the second quarter. Based on concerns about growth difficulties and challenges, the WTO recently lowered the growth rate of global merchandise trade volume in 2023 from the previously predicted 1.7% to 0.8%. If the current year-on-year decline in commodity prices is taken into account, global merchandise trade volume will grow negative. Many export-oriented economies were affected, with South Korea's exports falling by 11.5% in the first three quarters and Vietnam's exports falling by 8.5%.
Shu Jueting pointed out that in recent months, my country's foreign trade has further shown a trend of stability and progress. In terms of scale, my country's import and export scale has increased quarter by quarter, with month-on-month growth in the third quarter. The import and export volume in September hit a new high in a single month during the year. In terms of share, WTO data show that my country's export international market share increased steadily in the first half of the year, reaching 14.2%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the same period last year. In terms of entities, the number of foreign trade companies with import and export performance in the first three quarters was 597,000, close to the level of last year, of which the proportion of private enterprises increased by 1.1 percentage points. In terms of momentum, competitive products such as automobiles, ships, lithium batteries, and luggage have maintained a relatively high growth rate, and new cross-border e-commerce formats have continued to contribute incremental growth. At the same time, the ongoing 134th Canton Fair is very popular and has active transactions. The number and quality of overseas buyers attending the fair have increased significantly. Merchants from various countries are very interested in and favor Chinese products and Chinese manufacturing.
Shu Jueting said that these positive changes are inseparable from the persistence and innovation of the vast number of foreign trade entities and the effective implementation of stable foreign trade policies. They also demonstrate the resilience and vitality of China's foreign trade. "With the continuous accumulation of positive factors, we are confident that we will continue to consolidate the good operating situation in the fourth quarter and achieve the goal of stabilizing and improving the quality of foreign trade throughout the year."