Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 26 Question: What about foreign investment? What are the characteristics of the consumer market? How is the foreign trade situation?Ministry of Commerce responds to recent economic and trade hot spots
Xinhua News Agency reporters Pan Jie and Xie Xiyao
How has the situation of my country’s foreign investment cooperation been this year? What are the characteristics of the recent consumer market? How do you view the current situation of my country’s foreign trade? The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on the 26th to respond to recent economic and trade hot spots.
In the first nine months, foreign non-financial direct investment increased by 18.7%. The “Belt and Road” economic and trade cooperation has become deeper and more substantial.
Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said that from January to September this year, my country’s foreign investment continued to grow, with foreign non-financial direct investment reaching 673.14 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.7% (equivalent to US$95.96 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%). Among them, the non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in the “Belt and Road” countries was 164.71 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.7% (equivalent to US$23.48 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%).
In the first nine months of this year, the turnover of my country’s foreign contracted projects was 764.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%; the value of newly signed contracts was 986.28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. Among them, the turnover of Chinese enterprises in the “Belt and Road” national contracting projects was 628.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%; the value of newly signed contracts was 818.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%.
Shu Jueting said that China’s eight actions to support high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” have clarified a new direction, opened up a new vision, and injected new impetus into the “Belt and Road” cooperation. Next, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant parties to promote the establishment of a “Silk Road E-commerce” cooperation pilot zone, successfully host important exhibitions such as the 6th China International Import Expo and the 2nd Global Digital Trade Expo, further promote high-level opening up, and create More practical cooperation projects, broaden investment and industrial cooperation areas, and encourage enterprises to carry out cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation and other fields.
Consumption recovery momentum is stable, market vitality is sufficient, and consumption highlights are many
Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Commerce has organized and carried out a series of activities of the “Consumption Boost Year”, introduced policies and measures to promote automobile and household consumption, deepened the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities, implemented the three-year action of urban quarter-hour convenient living circles and county commerce, and strived to improve Revitalize bulk consumption, promote service consumption, and expand new consumption.
“With the joint efforts of all parties, the consumer market continues to recover. The total retail sales of consumer goods in the first three quarters were 34.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. Especially since the third quarter, the recovery trend has become more obvious.” Shu Jueting said.
——The recovery momentum is stable. In September, total retail sales increased by 5.5% year-on-year, 0.9 percentage points faster than in August, and rebounded for two consecutive months. Among major commodity categories, the year-on-year growth rate of retail sales of over 60% of commodities accelerated compared with August.
——The market is very dynamic. In the first three quarters, service retail sales increased by 18.9% year-on-year, and catering revenue increased by 18.7%. During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, the average daily passenger flow in key business districts and national demonstration pedestrian streets increased by 1.6 times and 87.4% respectively compared with last year’s holiday.
——There are many consumption highlights. Online consumption, green consumption, smart consumption, etc. are developing at an accelerated pace, and new business formats, new models, and new scenarios are constantly emerging. In the first three quarters, online retail sales increased by 11.6% year-on-year, new energy vehicle sales increased by 37.5%, and the market penetration rate reached 29.8%.
——Strong pulling effect. In the first three quarters of this year, final consumption expenditure contributed 83.2% to economic growth, an increase of 6 percentage points from the first half of the year. Among them, the contribution rate in the third quarter reached 94.8%, driving GDP growth by 4.6 percentage points, playing an important supporting role in the economic recovery.
The trend of foreign trade stabilization and progress has further emerged
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. The WTO recently lowered the growth rate of global merchandise trade volume in 2023 from the previous forecast of 1.7% to 0.8%.
Shu Jueting said that in the face of multiple risks and challenges, the business system has solidly promoted the implementation of policies to stabilize foreign trade, and the vast number of foreign trade companies have actively innovated and made every effort to stabilize orders and expand the market. my country’s foreign trade has been operating generally smoothly, especially in recent months, with progress being made while being stable. The situation is further revealed.
In terms of scale, my country’s import and export scale has increased quarter by quarter, and has increased month by month 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.
“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.” Shu Jueting said.
The number of overseas buyers at the 134th Canton Fair has exceeded that of the previous session
The 134th Canton Fair will be held in Guangzhou in three phases from October 15 to November 4, focusing on themes such as “advanced manufacturing”, “big home” and “better life”. The first phase ended on October 19, and the second phase is currently being held.
Shu Jueting said that as of October 25, more than 150,000 overseas purchasers from 214 countries and regions had participated in the fair, which has exceeded the total number of attendees at the previous fair and increased by 3.2% compared with the pre-epidemic period (2019 Autumn Canton Fair). Among them, there are 96,000 buyers from countries co-constructing the “One Belt and One Road”, accounting for 64.1%, an increase of 15.6% compared with before the epidemic.
In terms of transaction volume, Shu Jueting said that the offline export transaction volume of the first phase of the 134th Canton Fair was US$12.33 billion, an increase of 9.2% from the previous session, of which the “Belt and Road” countries’ transactions accounted for more than 50%. Exhibitors generally reported that the on-site transactions and follow-up appointments by buyers to visit the factory at this Canton Fair were better than expected, confidence has been restored, and they remain optimistic about the number of future orders.
(Pan Jie, Xie Xiyao)
[Editor in charge: Dong Jing]
2023-10-27 08:06:00
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