According to news on July 19, at the press conference on business work and operation in the first half of 2023 held by the State Council Information Office today, some media asked: Recently, the executive meeting of the State Council proposed that qualified policies and measures should be introduced in a timely manner and implemented as soon as possible. At the same time, the reserves of policy measures should be strengthened to maximize the comprehensive effect of policies. May I ask, what policies to stabilize growth are worth looking forward to next?

In this regard, Vice Minister of Commerce Guo Tingting said that since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Commerce has taken multiple measures to stabilize foreign trade, stabilize foreign investment and promote consumption, and give full play to the comprehensive effect of policies. The work in the first half of the year can be summarized as “three batches”:

First, a series of policies and measures have been introduced and implemented, including the opinions on stabilizing the scale and optimizing the structure of foreign trade, the policy of encouraging foreign capital to set up research and development centers, piloting several measures in the pilot free trade zones and free trade ports that meet the international high standards to promote institutional opening, and promoting household consumption, green smart home appliance consumption, housekeeping improvement and expansion of policy documents, etc.

The second is to carry out a number of important activities, the most representative of which are the “two years”, one is the “consumption boost year” and the other is the “investment in China year”. Through the “Consumption Promotion Year”, we will carry out various forms of consumption promotion activities with various localities and industry associations to improve everyone’s consumption expectations and consumption environment. Through the “Invest in China Year” campaign, actively carry out investment promotion activities of “bringing in” and “going out”.

The third is to hold a number of important exhibitions, including the 3rd China International Consumer Goods Fair and the 133rd Canton Fair.

Guo Tingting said that recently, the executive meeting of the State Council requested that the comprehensive effect of policies should be maximized. The Ministry of Commerce will continue to promote the further implementation and effectiveness of the policies that have been introduced, and accelerate the introduction of policies and measures that meet the conditions and have not yet been introduced. At the same time, in-depth investigation and research will be carried out, policy reserves will be continuously strengthened, and the “combination punch” of business policies will be effectively and effectively played, so as to contribute to the continued economic recovery.

In terms of foreign trade, we will study and support new energy vehicles to open up the international market, improve the development level of processing trade, implement practical measures such as facilitating business personnel to apply for visas, resume and increase international flights, and hold important exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo, Canton Fair, and Service Trade Fair.

In terms of foreign investment, we will introduce policies to further optimize the foreign investment environment, and promote the continued and reasonable reduction of the negative list for foreign investment access. Implement the roundtable meeting mechanism for foreign-funded enterprises and maintain regular communication with foreign-funded enterprises.

In terms of consumption, we will continue to successfully organize consumption promotion activities such as the international consumption season, summer consumption season, and golden autumn shopping festival, and promote the introduction of measures to expand automobile consumption, promote high-quality development of the catering industry, and digital empowerment of life services.

We have noticed that data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that my country’s auto exports continue to maintain rapid growth. In the first half of this year, auto companies exported 2.14 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 75.7%. This year, China is expected to become the world’s largest exporter.