On January 1, 2022, RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) will officially enter into force. The first batch of countries to take effect includes six ASEAN countries and four non-ASEAN countries including China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

At the policy briefing held by China's New Office on December 30, officials from the Ministry of Commerce introduced the high-quality implementation of RCEP to promote the steady development of Foreign trade. What can't be missed at the meeting? Comb it for you.

On foreign trade and the RCEP coming into force next year, the spokesperson said

Vice Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin: This year's foreign trade has been on a "high slope", the hard-won achievements, next year's situation is still complex and grim, it is likely to pass a "big gap". RCEP is of great significance to China's efforts to build a new development landscape. The next step is to take the RCEP into effect as an opportunity to promote high-quality development of foreign trade.

Li Xinggan, Director general of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce: The RCEP, which will come into force as scheduled, represents a valuable market opportunity and great trade creativity. It will be an important lever for stabilizing foreign trade next year.

Yu Benlin, Director general of the Department of International Economic and Trade Relations of the Ministry of Commerce: The RCEP is a powerful way to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment. The entry into force of the AGREEMENT has brought about multiple positive effects. It will further stabilize China's foreign trade and foreign investment base, improve the quality and upgrade of industries, and stimulate market vitality.

What will RCEP bring to China?

The SPOKESPERSON of the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that the RCEP is a strong lever for stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment, and its entry into force has brought multiple positive effects.

First, RCEP is conducive to expanding China's export of competitive products. China's trade volume with RCEP members accounts for about one third of China's total trade volume, and these countries are all important economic and trade partners of China, among which ASEAN, Japan and the ROK are China's first, fourth and fifth largest trading partners respectively. For the first time, China and Japan have reached a free trade arrangement. The two sides have significantly lowered tariffs on each other's machinery and equipment, electronic information, chemical industry, light industry and textile. In particular, 57% of China's exports to Japan next year will immediately achieve zero tariffs.

From the perspective of trade facilitation, members have made high-level commitments on customs procedures, inspection and quarantine, and technical standards. In particular, they have promised to release goods within 48 hours upon arrival as far as possible, and for express and perishable goods within 6 hours upon arrival, which will help improve the efficiency of logistics customs clearance and promote export growth.

From the perspective of e-commerce, the commitment of all parties to promote "paperless trade", recognition of the effectiveness of electronic signatures, and institutional guarantee for online transactions will help enterprises expand exports through cross-border e-commerce platforms.

Second, the cumulative rules of origin have greatly reduced the threshold of commodity benefits. This will encourage producers to use more materials of origin in the region, facilitate the zero-tariff treatment agreed upon by member states, and contribute to a closer and more resilient industrial and supply chain in the region. China's production and trade of intermediate products will benefit, and the export of upstream products such as textile raw materials, auto parts and electronic components will further increase.

Third, RCEP will promote the growth of mutual investment between China and other member states. In the area of trade in services, all parties have made high-level commitment to opening-up. In the field of investment, commitments have been made in the form of a negative list, market access for foreign investment has been further relaxed, and policy transparency has been greatly enhanced. Commitments to opening up goods, services, and investment will be combined, trade and investment facilitation will be guaranteed by institutions, industrial and supply chains will be more integrated, and regional investment will be more dynamic. With a complete range of industries, strong supporting capacity and high production efficiency, China has the potential to attract domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in China.

This year, China's position as the world's largest trading country has become more stable after crossing the "two trillion US dollars" mark

This year, China's import and export of goods is expected to reach us $6 trillion, an increase of more than 20%, crossing the "two trillion" mark and consolidating its position as the largest trading country. Compared with last year, imports and exports increased by about $1.3 trillion, equivalent to the total increase of the past 10 years. In the first three quarters, the international market share of export and import reached 15% and 12.1% respectively, hitting a new record high.

Foreign trade structure presents new characteristics of mechanical and electrical products exports accounted for 59%

In 2021, China's foreign trade structure will present new features, with closer trade exchanges between emerging markets, a more prominent role for private enterprises, and the potential of central and western regions being constantly unleashed. In the first 11 months, emerging markets accounted for 49.5 percent of China's exports, while private enterprises accounted for 58 percent, driving the overall export growth rate by 20 percentage points. The central and western regions continued to unleash their potential, with export growth of 34.9%, higher than that of the overall export. The added value of exports continued to rise, with mechanical and electrical products accounting for 59% of exports, electric passenger vehicles up 2.5 times, and unit prices up more than 35%.

China contributed 14.1% to global import growth, and the increase in goods exports hit a 10-year high

This year, the 14th Five-year Plan for High-quality Development of Foreign Trade was issued, and innovation, development and upgrading accelerated. Both cross-border e-commerce and market procurement saw double-digit growth. The number of foreign trade enterprises exceeded 1,500, overseas warehouses exceeded 2,000, and 130 bonded maintenance projects were completed.

In the first three quarters of this year, the increase in goods exports accounted for 27.8% of GDP growth, a 10-year high. The number of newly registered foreign trade operators reached 184,000, playing a prominent role in stabilizing employment. We will ensure imports of advanced equipment, key spare parts, important energy and resources, and quality consumer goods, and maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains to meet people's needs for a better life. In the first three quarters of this year, China contributed 14.1 percent to global import growth, and exported epidemic prevention materials and vaccines in an orderly manner, supporting global cooperation against COVID-19 and demonstrating its responsibility as a major country.

Processing trade will continue to be an important way of trade in the future

'At present and for some time to come, processing trade remains an important way for China to link the domestic and international double circulation and consolidate and enhance the advantages of the international supply chain,' said a moFCOM spokesman. In the first 11 months of this year, the import and export of processing trade reached us $1.18 trillion, up 19.3% year on year, among which exports reached US $740 billion, up 17.7% year on year, and imports reached US $441.7 billion, up 22.2% year on year. Both exports and imports are the highest in the same period since 2015. In 2022, we will continue to support the relocation and undertaking of processing trade, strengthen services for processing trade enterprises, and promote the transformation and upgrading of processing trade.

Policy support for small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises has been on the way

At present, small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises are faced with the shortage of core, cabinet, labor shortage, cost continues to rise and other problems. In this regard, a series of supporting measures will focus on increasing fiscal and tax support to reduce the burden on enterprises. We will continue to accelerate the progress of export tax rebates, and the average time for export tax rebates will be less than 6 working days next year. Ease the pressure of international logistics and reduce costs for enterprises. Encourage foreign trade enterprises to sign long-term agreements with shipping enterprises, guide local and import and export associations to organize small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises to connect with shipping enterprises directly; Consolidate and enhance the role of export credit insurance to relieve pressure for enterprises; We will increase credit support for enterprise financing. Where conditions permit, financing support can be provided to small and micro foreign trade enterprises by means of "re-loan + insurance policy financing".

What are the policies of export credit insurance for foreign trade enterprises to recruit?

Export credit insurance is an internationally accepted policy measure to support foreign trade enterprises. Since this year, enterprises have faced greater risks when exploring the international market and have stronger demands for export credit insurance. Mofcom spokesperson said that there are relevant policies to provide risk protection for the four common problems commonly encountered by enterprises:

First, in view of the problem of importers refusing to accept or pay, we strengthened the protection of the risk of order cancellation before shipment, and urged buyers to fulfill the contract through multiple channels. At the same time, speed up the claims procedure, adhere to the compensation should compensate, can compensate quickly.

Second, in view of the high international freight, optimize the underwriting conditions of overseas warehouse projects, and support overseas warehouse to better play a positive role in reducing transportation costs. Now the mode of "export credit insurance + overseas warehouse" is welcomed by enterprises.

Third, in view of the situation that small, medium and micro enterprises have difficulty in obtaining information and financing, we will promote the improvement of information services, provide timely buyers' credit information to enterprises, and give full play to the role of insurance policy financing and credit enhancement to facilitate enterprise financing and enhance liquidity.

Fourth, in view of the rising risk of "going global", we increased the underwriting strength of medium - and long-term insurance. Up to now, sinosure's annual underwriting volume has exceeded 800 billion US dollars, providing insurance services for 160,000 foreign economic and trade enterprises.

In 2022, China's foreign trade will strengthen cross-cycle adjustment, how to do?

Next year, China's foreign trade is likely to face a "big hurdle" in the face of complex situations such as the uncertain trend of the epidemic, uneven recovery of the global economy and the huge gap between the recovery of developed economies and low-income countries. Mofcom spokesperson said that it will strengthen cross-cycle adjustment, focus on four aspects of work, and take multiple measures to stabilize foreign trade:

First, we paid close attention to the implementation of the policy of making cross-cycle adjustments and stabilizing foreign trade. We will introduce supporting measures, strengthen publicity and interpretation, and let enterprises enjoy policy dividends as soon as possible. At the same time, strengthen monitoring and early warning, reserve new policies.

Second, we will continue to promote innovative development of foreign trade. We will do a good job in the expansion of a new batch of comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, constantly improve overseas smart logistics platforms, build offshore trade center cities or regions, strive to improve the level of trade digitalization, and build a batch of global trade digitalization pilot zones. We will implement the dual carbon target and promote green trade.

Third, we will make every effort to ensure the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains. We will continue to promote the high-quality development of foreign trade transformation and upgrading bases, support the innovative development of processing trade, foster a new batch of border residents to trade on the basis of processing, further promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, foster dual-cycle trade enterprises, continue to promote the smooth flow of international logistics and settlement, and improve trade facilitation.

Fourth, to help foreign trade enterprises expand markets. We will deepen our efforts in traditional markets such as the US and Europe, further expand asean and other emerging markets, and ensure the success of the Expo, Canton Fair and China Service Trade Fair. We will jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality, deepen cooperation on Silk Road E-commerce, and take the RCEP into effect as an opportunity to promote high-quality development of foreign trade.

(CCTV reporter Guan Hongyan Zhang Xin)