Beijing has pledged to expand imports and use its vast market to help other countries boost exports to the world’s second-largest economy – a move that could help balance global trade at a time when China’s export machine faces growing scrutiny.
Beijing also planned to diversify markets and nurture new trade drivers such as artificial intelligence, seeking to stabilise trade as global supply chains come under mounting pressure from geopolitical conflicts, officials said.
Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, commenting on China’s record US$1.19 trillion trade surplus last year that unsettled trading partners, said Beijing would increase imports of agricultural products, high-end consumer goods and advanced technology this year.
“While some countries treat the market as a weapon or a bargaining chip and pursue protectionism, as a responsible major country China is proactively opening its vast market, viewing it as an opportunity and a basis for cooperation,” Wang said at a Friday press conference on the sidelines of the “two sessions”, one of the country’s most important political gatherings.
Beijing would release a report evaluating the capacity of selected countries to export to China, helping them strengthen their ability to sell in the Chinese market and better match supply with demand, he added.
Despite a 19.5 per cent drop in exports to the United States in yuan terms last year, overall exports rose 6.1 per cent, which Wang attributed to successful market diversification. These efforts would continue, he said.
FULL EVENT: Opening ceremony of China’s National People’s Congress
