Expand the import of high-quality products and promote balanced development of imports and exports

On September 18th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the relevant information of the 140th China Import and Export Fair (hereinafter referred to as "Canton Fair").

Assistant Minister of Commerce Zhang Li stated that the 140th Canton Fair will be held in three phases from October 15th to November 4th in Guangzhou. This year's Canton Fair will celebrate an important milestone of its 70th anniversary.

According to Zhang Li, for 70 years, the Canton Fair has been a microcosm of China's foreign trade development, always breathing and developing together with China's foreign trade. In the process of building a strong trading nation, it has mainly played three roles: firstly, the Canton Fair is an "incubator" for the growth and development of foreign trade enterprises; Secondly, the Canton Fair is a "training ground" for the iteration and innovation of foreign trade products; Thirdly, the Canton Fair serves as a bridge and link to promote economic and trade exchanges and expand foreign cooperation.

When it comes to how to view the role of China's foreign trade in global economic growth, Zhang Li stated that currently, the world's economic growth is weak, and global trade is facing many challenges. Faced with the adverse effects of external environmental changes, China's foreign trade has risen to the challenge and steadily improved, injecting certainty into global economic growth and stable supply chains.

One is to provide an important engine for global economic growth. As the world's largest trading nation in goods, China continues to provide a driving force for global trade growth. According to the first quarter global trade data released by the World Trade Organization in July, China has driven global trade growth by 2.1 percentage points, with a contribution rate of 20.3%. China's foreign trade is not only the key to achieving its own economic development, but also a strong engine for global economic and trade growth.

Secondly, it provides strong support for the stable operation of the global supply chain. The more the global supply chain is under pressure and turbulence, the more prominent the role of China's foreign trade "stabilizer" becomes. On the one hand, China has a complete range of goods, stable delivery, high quality and good price. Its exports of household appliances, daily consumer goods, medical supplies and other products cover more than 200 countries and regions around the world, enriching global supply and easing global inflation pressure. On the other hand, China, with its complete industrial system and supporting industries, provides production equipment and other industrial products to countries, especially developing countries, providing important support for their development of the real economy, improvement of industrialization level, and integration into the global supply chain.

Thirdly, the dividends of the super large market benefit the world. In recent years, we have adhered to the dual wheel drive of "policies+activities" to expand imports, and China's attractiveness and value as a "world market" have become stronger. We have held eight consecutive Import Expos, launched the "Sharing the Big Market · Exporting to China" series of activities, and continuously increased our efforts to "buy globally", expanding channels and building platforms for high-quality goods from around the world to enter the Chinese market. From January to August this year, China's imports increased by 22%, the fastest since 2021, and it is expected that the annual import volume will reach a new high. More and more high-quality global products are entering the Chinese consumer market and integrating into China's production and supply chain system, bringing more orders to enterprises in various countries, promoting the development of related industries, and increasing local employment.

The fourth is to accelerate the global green and digital transformation. China enriches the global supply with high-quality green and intelligent products, helping the world accelerate the process of green, low-carbon, and digital empowerment. In the past 10 years, China has provided more than 80% of photovoltaic modules and 70% of wind power equipment to the world, effectively promoting the reduction of global wind and photovoltaic power generation costs, and continuously polishing the green background of Chinese manufacturing. The rapid development of artificial intelligence related industries has driven the rapid growth of AI product imports and exports, benefiting countries around the world. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that many of China's innovations are taking the open source route. For example, China's artificial intelligence model has surpassed 10 billion global downloads, making new technologies more accessible and affordable for more countries, especially developing countries, and enhancing their development capabilities.

Next, the Ministry of Commerce will resolutely implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, closely track changes in the foreign trade situation, make good use of various open platforms including the Canton Fair, guide enterprises to expand diversified markets, actively expand the import of high-quality products, promote balanced development of imports and exports, and make greater contributions to expanding high-level opening up to the outside world and promoting sustained new and better economic development.