On April 20th, the 29th China-South Korea Joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting was held in Beijing. Both sides discussed deepening bilateral economic and trade relations, accelerating FTA second-phase negotiations, preparing the 2026-2030 cooperation plan, and strengthening regional/multilateral cooperation to promote cooperation to a new level.

The article covers China's Q1 2026 economic performance (5.0% GDP growth) as the 15th Five-Year Plan's start, highlighting steady growth, economic resilience, new quality productivity development, and policy support for stable high-quality development.

US-India bilateral trade negotiations resumed on April 20, 2026 in Washington D.C., amid US tariff policy changes after the Supreme Court overturned equivalent tariffs. Talks cover tariff adjustments, structural issues (digital service tax, overcapacity), and Middle East conflict impacts, with a possible short-term temporary agreement.

On April 17, MOFCOM submitted comments to the EU on its revised Cybersecurity Law draft, expressing concerns over its subjective "non-technical risks", suspected WTO rule violations, harm to China-EU trade/global supply chains, and suggesting revisions. China will take countermeasures if discriminatory measures are enacted.

The 139th Canton Fair opens in Guangzhou, drawing global attention. Meanwhile, Guangdong's "Mutual Benefit: A Thousand Years of Guangdong's Foreign Trade" special exhibition (a "Great Ideological and Political Course") links ancient foreign trade culture with current practices, transforming historical confidence into open development determination to promote high-quality growth.

At the 6th China International Consumer Products Expo, Chinese enterprises are deepening cooperation with Southeast Asia, shifting from goods exporters to industrial chain organizers. China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 and RCEP drive bilateral trade growth, with mutual industrial chain integration creating win-win situations across agriculture, electronics, and new consumption sectors.

In the first quarter of the 15th Five-Year Plan's first year, China's GDP grew 5.0% year-on-year, achieving a good start. Major indicators rebounded, with stable fundamentals, innovative new drivers, improved livelihoods, and effective policies demonstrating economic resilience and high-quality development momentum.

On April 15, SASAC held a special meeting on central enterprises' low altitude economy development, studying work ideas and measures. It emphasized strategic significance, predicted China's low altitude economy market size to reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025 and 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035, and required central enterprises to strengthen tech R&D, infrastructure construction, etc.

The National Data Administration released a draft plan on industry high-quality dataset construction for public comment. It defines such datasets, sets 2028 targets, focuses on AI pre-training/reinforcement learning and multimodal/world model datasets, and proposes business model innovations.

On April 15, 2026, the US Department of Commerce announced the plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit, terminating anti-dumping/anti-subsidy investigations against China’s lithium hexafluorophosphate before filing—China’s first such pre-filing victory in 20 years. Coordinated efforts secured this success, protecting industry interests.

The 139th Canton Fair opened in Guangzhou on April 15, with record scale (1.55m sqm, 32k+ exhibitors). It adds new zones for drones/smart products, showcasing innovations like drone delivery and intelligent robots. Overseas buyers experienced these techs, driving potential orders, as a foreign trade barometer.

China opposes the UK's exclusion of Mingyang Intelligent's wind turbines from offshore wind projects on "national security" grounds, noting it contradicts the UK's open market philosophy and harms bilateral cooperation. UK PM Starmer earlier stated willingness to strengthen Sino-UK cooperation in trade, environment etc. China hopes the UK provides a fair business environment for Chinese enterprises.

The 15th Five-Year Plan proposes trade and investment integration to deepen China's opening-up. It responds to global economic changes, supports dual circulation, boosts high-quality development, and requires institutional coordination, industrial chain integration, and open platform upgrades.

China issued a new regulation to counter foreign improper extraterritorial jurisdiction, aiming to safeguard sovereignty, security and development interests. It has 20 articles on scope, identification/blocking systems, service guarantees. Experts emphasize its legality and role in opposing hegemony, enhancing China's foreign-related rule of law.

Under the dual carbon target, China's green trade accelerates development as a key part of foreign trade upgrading. It covers significance (harmonious coexistence, major country responsibility, competitive advantage), key areas (trade partners, supply chain, rules) and practical paths (technology, industry, policy, global cooperation), supporting high-quality development and global governance.

The State Council issued the "Overall Plan for China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone", a major decision of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. It proposes 19 reform and innovation measures, aims to build a high-level free trade park, and emphasizes Party leadership, security, green development, with implementation requirements for Inner Mongolia and relevant departments.

The US House China Select Committee set up a whistleblower email urging American scholars to report China-related research cooperation. Chinese FM spokesperson Mao Ning criticized this as US suppression, noting it undermines normal tech exchanges and harms US innovation.

On the 8th, the World Bank released its East Asia and Pacific Economic Semi Annual Report: developing EAP growth is higher than global average but slows to 4.2% in 2026 then rebounds to 4.4% in 2027. External factors include Middle East conflict (energy price hikes), tariffs (policy uncertainty), and AI boom (regional export highlight). South Korea's semiconductor experience is cited.

On April 8th, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning stated at a regular press conference that China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial and win-win, calling on both sides to implement the important consensus of the two heads of state to provide more stability for their cooperation.

Recently, Zengcheng Customs and Guangzhou Railway Logistics Center launched the "two inspections in one" mechanism for China Europe freight trains in the Greater Bay Area, achieving one-time unpacking for customs and railway checks. This shortens operation time, cuts logistics costs, and boosts high-quality foreign trade development.