Multiple measures to expand intermediate goods trade

The Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development proposes to promote innovative trade development and expand intermediate goods trade. Intermediate goods trade, as a key link connecting domestic and international production processes, directly reflects a country's depth of participation and industrial competitiveness in the global production network. In the context of the accelerated restructuring of the global industrial chain, vigorously expanding intermediate goods trade is not only an important focus for China to promote the optimization of trade structure and the improvement of division of labor during the 15th Five Year Plan period, but also an inherent requirement for building a national economic security barrier, promoting high-quality economic development, and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern.

Intermediate goods trade is a cross-border trade activity that deals with intermediate products such as raw materials, components, and semi-finished products. Essentially, it is a value exchange activity of global production division of labor and cooperation. Overall, in recent years, China's intermediate goods trade has shown a good trend of parallel scale expansion and structural upgrading. The focus of China's intermediate goods exports is gradually shifting from labor-intensive products to technology intensive products, and the scale of independent production and trade of key intermediate goods is gradually expanding, with the level of added value further rising. This has strengthened the resilience of China's industrial and supply chains, enhanced the efficiency of supply chain collaboration, strengthened the level of autonomy and controllability, hedged external market volatility risks, and effectively safeguarded national economic security.

However, compared to the export of intermediate goods, China's import of intermediate goods accounts for a relatively high proportion, reflecting China's relatively low position in the global value chain, especially as some high-end intermediate goods still rely on imports and key core technologies are subject to others' control; The digitalization and standardization level of intermediate goods trade needs to be improved; The pricing power and rule discourse power in the global supply chain are still insufficient; The coordination mechanism for intermediate goods trade between regions is not yet perfect, and the efficiency of industrial chain coordination needs to be improved. To further promote the high-quality development of China's intermediate goods trade, efforts should be made from multiple aspects, focusing on the shortcomings and making precise efforts, and building a development system with internal and external linkage and strong resilience.

Strengthen original technological innovation and break through the bottleneck of high-end supply of intermediate goods. Dynamically sorting out the industrial chain map, accurately identifying potential "break points" in weak links such as basic materials, core components, and key processes; Give full play to the advantages of the new national system, based on national science and technology major projects, coordinate the advantageous resources of all parties to carry out collaborative research and development of key core technologies; Improve the intellectual property protection system, increase the protection of intellectual property in the intermediate goods field, establish a "patent pool" for intermediate goods and an industry standard patent alliance, and provide complete institutional guarantees for enterprise original innovation.

Optimize regional layout and cultivate intermediate goods trade industry clusters. Industrial clusters are important carriers for shaping competitive advantages in intermediate goods trade. Based on the resource endowments and comparative advantages of different regions in China, scientific planning and precise positioning should be carried out for the layout of industrial clusters. Support the precise layout of technology intensive intermediate goods industry clusters in developed coastal areas, build a full chain innovation system, and create a leading source of global technological change. Guide the central and western regions to rely on their industrial capacity and vast market hinterland, build advanced manufacturing bases that are large-scale, digital, and specialized, and form a "ballast stone" with strong support for the global supply chain. By building a hierarchical linkage and complementary regional industrial layout, we provide comprehensive capacity support for intermediate goods trade.

Expand diversified trade networks and solidify the foundation of overseas markets. The quality of intermediate goods trade development is closely related to the thickness of overseas market support and the breadth of trade network expansion. Focusing on the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" trade network, we will implement the diversification strategy of intermediate trade partners, build a special intermediate trade promotion platform to meet the needs of infrastructure construction and industrial upgrading of emerging market countries along the line, and improve our ability to expand overseas markets. Deeply cultivating the regional free trade agreement market, relying on the frameworks of RCEP, China ASEAN and other free trade agreements, leveraging the advantages of tariff reduction, and expanding the intra regional circulation of intermediate goods trade. We should deepen international cooperation mechanisms, actively participate in and even lead the formulation of international standards in the intermediate goods field, and break down institutional barriers by promoting mutual recognition of standards.

Improve the policy support and factor support system, and create a favorable environment for the development of intermediate goods trade. Research and formulate special support policies for intermediate goods trade, strengthen factor guarantee and service support, form a comprehensive, multi-level, and efficient policy system, and effectively solve institutional and mechanism barriers to the development of intermediate goods trade; Strengthen the empowerment of fiscal, taxation, and financial policies, and improve the mechanism for export tax rebates for intermediate goods; Give full play to the intellectual support role of industry organizations, trade promotion agencies, etc., establish an intermediate goods trade information sharing platform, and provide services such as supply and demand docking, market warning, and standard interpretation. Establish a sound risk protection mechanism for intermediate goods trade. Expand the coverage of export credit insurance, include intermediate goods in the scope of protection, provide risk protection for intermediate goods transportation, warehousing, delivery and other links, and focus on hedging risks such as geopolitical and tariff fluctuations. Establish a dispute resolution mechanism for intermediate goods trade based on international arbitration platforms, providing fair and efficient legal remedies for enterprises.