On March 26, Business Micro News published "The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. What are the recent economic and trade hotspots worth paying attention to?" ".
At the press conference, Liu Changyu, a second-level inspector of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, responded to the question "whether there is a new date for the Canton Fair and whether it will be cancelled" raised by the reporter. The Canton Fair is an important platform for China's foreign trade and opening up, and is China The "barometer" and "wind vane" of foreign trade have gathered thousands of merchants and attracted much attention. Since the outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia, the Ministry of Commerce, together with the People ’s Government of Guangdong Province, has made preparations for the 127th Canton Fair on the one hand, on the other hand, closely followed the trend of the outbreak, analyzed the relevant impacts in depth, and adjusted and perfected various plans. After research, the 127th Canton Fair will be postponed. We will continue to make careful preparations with relevant departments and localities to improve various work plans including epidemic prevention and control. After the specific holding date is determined, we will release it as soon as possible.
The full text is as follows:
The Ministry of Commerce held a routine press conference at 15 pm on Thursday, March 26, 2020. Xian Guoyi, director of the Department of Service and Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, Liu Changyu, a second-level inspector (deputy director level) of the Foreign Trade Department, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce, and spokesman Gao Feng attended, introduced the relevant situation and answered questions from the media.
The following is the transcript of the press conference
Gao Feng, deputy director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce and spokesperson
Dear journalist friends:
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the online press conference hall of the Ministry of Commerce to participate in today's routine press conference. Today, we invited Mr. Xian Guoyi, Director of the Department of Service and Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, and Mr. Liu Changyu, the second-level inspector (deputy director) of the Foreign Trade Department, and I am Gao Feng. At today's press conference, Director Xian Guoyi will first introduce you to the recent market supply and the joint supply of nine provinces and joint guarantees. I will then inform you about China's foreign investment cooperation in the first two months of this year, and then we will answer Questions raised by reporter friends.
First, please ask Director Xian Guoyi to introduce the situation.
Xian Guoyi, Director of the Department of Service and Trade of the Ministry of Commerce
Good afternoon, friends from the media. At present, the supply of necessities in the country is generally abundant, and prices are steadily decreasing. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, on March 25, the wholesale prices of grains in 100 large agricultural and sideline products wholesale markets were basically the same as those at the end of February, and the wholesale prices of edible oils fell by 0.3%; the wholesale prices of pork, beef, and lamb decreased by 2.6%, 1.1%, and 1.8 %; The price of white striped chicken and eggs decreased by 1.7% and 4.0% respectively; the average wholesale price of 30 kinds of vegetables decreased by 15.6%. Hubei and Wuhan have sufficient stocks of necessities, sufficient supplies, and stable market operations. On March 25th, Hubei and Wuhan focused on investigating the retail stocks of rice noodle oil, meat, egg, milk, and vegetables, which continued to increase their total stocks, ensuring a further increase in market supply capacity. The sales of pork and vegetables in major supermarkets in Wuhan have remained basically stable, and the dynamic inventory is at a relatively high level. Relying on the joint insurance and joint supply mechanism of nine provinces, relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities transported rice noodles, grains, oil, meat, poultry, egg, milk, and other products in accordance with the consumer demand in Wuhan, Hubei, to ensure local market supply. So far, more than 72,000 tons of daily necessities have been shipped to Hubei, including more than 62,000 tons of fruits and vegetables, more than 6,670 tons of rice noodles, more than 3,130 tons of edible oil, and more than 680 tons of instant food. Thank you.
peak
Thank you, Director Xian Guoyi, for the introduction. Below I will introduce the relevant situation of China's foreign investment cooperation from January to February 2020.
From January to February 2020, domestic investors in China made a total of 1,733 non-financial direct investments in 147 countries and regions in the world, with a total investment of 107.86 billion yuan, an increase of 1.8% year-on-year (equivalent to USD 15.5 billion, 1% year-on-year). The turnover of foreign contracted projects was 108 billion yuan, down 9.5% year-on-year (equivalent to 15.52 billion U.S. dollars, down 12% year-on-year), and the newly signed contract value was 215.03 billion yuan, up 38.3% year-on-year (equivalent to 30.90 billion U.S. dollars, up 34.5% year-on-year ). Foreign labor service cooperation sent 39,000 laborers of various types, a year-on-year decrease of 29,000, and 778,000 laborers of various types abroad at the end of February.
From January to February 2020, China's foreign investment cooperation mainly exhibits the following characteristics:
First, the investment and cooperation in the “Belt and Road” has increased significantly. In January-February, Chinese enterprises had new investments in 48 countries along the Belt and Road, totaling US $ 2.72 billion, up 18.3% year-on-year. In 59 countries along the “Belt and Road”, newly signed foreign contracted engineering contracts amounted to US $ 15.36 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.6%, and completed turnover of US $ 9.14 billion.
Second, the structure of foreign investment continued to diversify. From January to February, foreign investment mainly flowed to the traditional investment fields such as leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, manufacturing and mining, accounting for 40.8%, 15.1%, 11.3% and 8.9%, respectively. Among them, the flow to the leasing and business service industry was 6.33 billion US dollars, an increase of 43.2% year-on-year, becoming the highest growth area.
The third is the increase in newly signed major projects of foreign contracted projects. In January-February, 115 new projects with a contract value of more than US $ 50 million were signed, an increase of 29 from the same period last year, accounting for 83.9% of the total value of newly signed contracts, mainly concentrated in transportation construction, power engineering construction, and general Construction projects, communications engineering construction, petrochemical projects, etc.
The above is the information that needs to be notified to everyone. Below, we are willing to answer the questions raised by our friends.
Please ask questions below.
1 Reporter from American International Market News Agency
At present, China is gradually returning to normal production and living order, but there is still a problem of insufficient consumer confidence. When will the domestic consumer market return to normal? In addition, from the employment data of the previous two months, the income of residents in the first quarter will definitely be greatly affected. Do you think there will be retaliatory consumption?
Xian Guoyi
After the outbreak of New Coronary Pneumonia, residents ’outings decreased sharply, and the consumer market was greatly affected. At the same time, China's consumer market has also demonstrated strong resilience and vitality. Rigid consumption has steadily increased, new consumption hot spots have been formed rapidly, and the space for upgrading consumption has continued to expand. From January to February, the retail sales of food and beverages of units above designated size increased by 9.7% and 3.1% year-on-year respectively, and the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 3% against the trend.
The impact of the epidemic on China's consumption is short-term and controllable. Recently, as the situation of epidemic prevention and control continues to improve, enterprises resume business operations and market sales bottom out. According to a survey by the Ministry of Commerce, as of March 22, the average return rate of large-scale agricultural wholesale markets reached 97%, 96% of large supermarkets, 94% of farmers' markets (vegetable markets), and 90% of department stores (shopping centers). The Ministry of Commerce focused on monitoring retail enterprises' average daily sales in late February increased by 5.6% from mid-February, increased by 0.5% from the beginning of March, and increased by 0.8% from the middle of March. With the further restoration of social production and living order, a series of policies and measures issued by the state and localities to promote the release of consumer supplements have gradually come into effect, and the consumer market will continue to rebound steadily in the later period. In some areas, some rigid consumption was delayed due to the impact of the epidemic, and it will be replenished after the epidemic, resulting in compensatory consumption. Thank you.
2 CNBC reporter
Is the resumption of production and production rate of foreign trade enterprises in China significantly affected by the global spread of the epidemic?
Liu Changyu, Level 2 Inspector (Deputy Director Level), Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce
Since the outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, the Ministry of Commerce, in accordance with the decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, has worked together with localities and departments to prevent and control the epidemic and economic and social development on the one hand, and promote the resumption of production and production of foreign trade enterprises, and strive to smooth the supply chain of the foreign trade industry . According to statistics, as of March 24, national key foreign trade enterprises have basically resumed work, and the proportion of key foreign trade enterprises whose production capacity recovery rate exceeds 70% has reached 71.3%, an increase of 4.6 percentage points from a week ago. It can be said that the resumption of production and production of China's foreign trade enterprises still maintains a stable and orderly situation.
The spread of the international epidemic has adverse effects on the resumption of production and production of foreign trade enterprises. First, it has affected international demand. Our main trading partners have successively entered a state of “anti-epidemic” emergency. In the short term, foreign trade companies are facing the impact of sluggish international market demand. The second is that it has affected international trade cooperation. China's imports of intermediate products and raw materials may be affected, which in turn will affect the export of final products. The third is that it has affected international business activities, the exchanges of economic and trade cooperation personnel have tended to stagnate, various trade fairs have been postponed or cancelled, and enterprises have faced problems such as the failure of traditional methods and the lack of traditional channels to obtain new orders. The epidemic knows no borders. Viruses are the common enemy of mankind, and we will eventually defeat them. The Ministry of Commerce will pay close attention to the challenges posed by the global pandemic, and actively and orderly promote the resumption of production and production of foreign trade enterprises in accordance with the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, ensure the production and export of important enterprises and key products, and support enterprises through online negotiations and online exhibitions. Take the initiative to seize orders, work with other countries to ensure that the global supply chain is open, stable, and safe, and make every effort to stabilize the basic foreign trade plate. Thank you.
3 US Bloomberg News reporter
The epidemic has a great impact on the consumer and service industries. From the current monitoring data, what is the level of consumption recovery in March? What are the expectations for the annual consumption and service industry development?
Xian Guoyi
Regarding this issue, I have just introduced the consumption of commodities, and then supplemented the consumption of living services. Living services such as catering, accommodation, and housekeeping require direct contact with consumers, and the impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic is more obvious. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, catering revenue in January-February decreased by 43.1% year-on-year. The Ministry of Commerce's monitoring shows that the operating income of accommodation, housekeeping and other industries fell by more than 75% year-on-year in February.
Recently, the national epidemic prevention and control situation has continued to consolidate and expand. The life service companies have steadily resumed work and business, and life service consumption has gradually recovered. The monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce shows that as of now, the resumption rate of catering, accommodation, and domestic management companies has reached about 80%, 60%, and 40%, respectively; the speed of recovery of consumption of catering and other services is also accelerating. On March 25, the Ministry of Commerce The operating income of 3,000 food and beverage outlets accounted for about 10 percentage points of the same period last year, which was more than 30 percentage points higher than the lowest point in February.
With the further restoration of social production and living order, the Party Central Committee and the State Council issued a series of policies and measures to promote the release of consumer supplements in time. The consumer market will continue to rise steadily in the later period, and the epidemic situation will not change China ’s consumption. Good development trend. Thank you.
4 First Financial TV reporter
As the epidemic has accelerated and the scope of overseas shutdowns and production has expanded, what is the current impact on China's imports? Which industries face greater challenges? What are the countermeasures?
Liu Changyu
According to customs statistics, from January to February this year, China's imports were 208.317 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%. The recent global epidemic situation has spread, and countries have adopted more stringent anti-epidemic measures, gradually showing the impact on the global economy and trade. Countries with more than 1,000 diagnosed people account for half of my imports. Seven of my top 10 import source countries have more than 1,000 diagnosed people. The scope of overseas shutdowns and production has expanded and supply capacity has weakened. Judging from the current situation, imports in industries such as electromechanical, transportation equipment, energy and chemical industries are more affected.
Since the outbreak, the Ministry of Commerce has issued a series of policy measures such as stabilizing foreign trade and stabilizing foreign investment and promoting consumption in accordance with the decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Solve the specific problems encountered by foreign trade enterprises. In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to promote foreign trade enterprises to speed up the resumption of production and production, focusing on the following aspects of import work:
The first is to closely track the difficulties encountered by foreign trade enterprises in importing, and to strengthen the connection with relevant departments and localities to ensure that policies and measures have been put in place. In conjunction with relevant business associations, actively do a good job in enterprise information service, promote industry organization innovation and optimization services, and play a bridge role.
The second is to actively expand imports. In recent years, the state has issued a series of policy measures to actively expand imports. In the future, we will further increase our efforts, such as continuing to encourage the import of advanced technology, equipment, and key parts and components, and give play to the ability to provide equipment and service industry upgrades for the national economy. For another example, we must increase the import of domestic energy and energy shortages and promote the quality of the domestic supply system; we must increase the import of agricultural products and food to meet the growing consumption upgrade needs of the people; in particular, we must continue to do well in accordance with the important instructions of the General Secretary In the third China International Import Expo, the level and effectiveness of the Expo will be better and better.
The third is to improve the level of import facilitation. It is necessary to further simplify the import approval process, shorten the customs clearance time, and continuously reduce the institutional cost of customs clearance.
The fourth is to accelerate the cultivation of the import trade promotion innovation demonstration zone, and give full play to the demonstration leading role of the demonstration zone in terms of promoting imports, service industries, and enhancing consumption. Thank you.
5 Shanghai Securities News reporter
Recently, Zhejiang has indicated that it will introduce policies to stimulate consumption, such as relaxing purchase restrictions and subsidies for cars going to the countryside. How does the Ministry of Commerce comment on this? Will there be more measures in the future to stimulate the consumption of automobiles, especially new energy vehicles?
Xian Guoyi
Automobiles are the pillars of the consumer market, and the retail sales of automobile commodities of units above the designated size account for about 10% of the company's total zero. The epidemic has a great impact on automobile consumption in the short term. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, car sales in January-February this year were 2.238 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 42%, of which 310,000 were sold in February, a decrease of 79.1%.
With the epidemic situation under control, the number of openings of car sales outlets is increasing, and consumer buying behavior is gradually recovering. According to the survey of 8569 4S stores nationwide by the China Automobile Dealers Association, as of March 24, the store resumption rate reached 94.7%, and the passenger flow The recovery rate was 61.7%. In order to hedge the impact of the epidemic on consumption, Hangzhou and other places have introduced measures such as relaxing purchase restrictions, which will help expand the consumption of physical goods and promote consumption replenishment.
In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will thoroughly implement the relevant decision-making arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and encourage localities to introduce measures to promote the consumption of new energy vehicles and carry out the trade-in of new vehicles in light of local actual conditions to further stabilize and expand automobile consumption. Thank you.
6 Japan Economic News reporter
Because the epidemic in Europe and the United States is getting worse, some orders from Chinese foreign trade companies have been cancelled. What do you think of the impact of the sudden drop in overseas orders on foreign trade companies?
Liu Changyu
At present, the epidemic of New Coronary Pneumonia has spread to more than 190 countries and regions. As countries take measures to prevent and control the epidemic in personnel exchanges, international logistics, and other fields, our major trading partners, including Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, have been affected to varying degrees in terms of domestic production and consumer demand. The normal development of bilateral trade brings some pressure. International organizations and institutions have lowered their global economic and trade expectations.
Although the external environment of China ’s foreign trade development has increased uncertainty and the downward pressure on international trade demand has increased, we must also see that China ’s foreign trade industry chain structure is complete and competitive, Chinese enterprises have strong innovation capabilities, and foreign trade enterprises are turning into opportunities Has strong adaptability. These abilities have been proven in the past to deal with various crises, and they will certainly be tempered in this epidemic test. At present, the interests of various countries are deeply intermingled.
