The Ministry of Commerce responds to hot issues such as the specific situation of the China Singapore Joint Economic and Trade Commission
At the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on June 11th, spokesperson He Yadong responded to hot issues such as the overall performance and structural highlights of China's foreign trade in the first five months, the specific situation of the 34th China Singapore Joint Economic and Trade Commission, and the main driving forces of China's high growth in service trade exports.
When answering questions about the overall performance and structural highlights of China's foreign trade in the first five months, He Yadong stated that China's import potential continues to be released, with import scale reaching a new historical high. The advantages of a super large market continue to emerge, providing broad development space for trading partners; The export structure continues to optimize, and the "new three" products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics continue to lead the world; The deepening of diversified markets has maintained double-digit growth for ASEAN, EU, Africa, and Latin America, and the "circle of friends" for win-win cooperation is becoming increasingly broad.
On June 5th, the 34th China New Zealand Joint Economic and Trade Commission was held in Beijing. He Yadong said, "China and Singapore exchanged in-depth views on deepening bilateral economic and trade relations, strengthening regional and multilateral cooperation, and other issues. Both sides agreed to jointly promote the negotiations on the negative list of service trade in the China Singapore Free Trade Agreement, strengthen communication and cooperation under regional and multilateral frameworks such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and the World Trade Organization, and continue to support the rules based multilateral trading system
Next, the Ministry of Commerce and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to make good use of the Joint Commission mechanism, further promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, advance regional and multilateral agendas, and make greater contributions to building a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and New Zealand, "he said.
In response to the question about the high growth of China's service trade exports, He Yadong said that in recent years, driven by policy support and industrial development, the international competitiveness of "Chinese services" has been continuously improved, especially the rapid growth of knowledge intensive service exports.
For example, in the field of intellectual property, data from relevant research institutions shows that the amount of foreign authorization for innovative drugs in China has repeatedly reached new highs, with a global market share of over 40% by 2025. In the field of culture and entertainment, China's digital cultural products such as online literature, web dramas, and online games have swept the 'Chinese whirlwind' globally, becoming a new engine for cultural consumption and cultural overseas expansion. The pace of 'content+platform+model' going global is accelerating, "said He Yadong.
Another reporter asked: Will China's promotion of zero tariff trade with Africa promote the wider use of the Chinese yuan on the African continent? What measures is the Ministry of Commerce promoting to achieve this goal?
He Yadong stated that China will implement a comprehensive zero tariff measure for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations for a period of two years starting from May 1, 2026, while continuing to promote the signing of economic partnership agreements for common development. This is a major measure taken by China to unwaveringly expand high-level opening-up and implement the achievements of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation.
Against the backdrop of unilateralism and protectionism posing difficulties and challenges to African countries, China has leveraged its advantage in a super large market, actively opened up its market, and achieved common development. Since the implementation of these measures, they have been widely welcomed by African countries and highly appreciated by the international community, "said He Yadong.