China says trade faces ‘extremely severe’ situation, blames geopolitics

BEIJING – China’s foreign trade faces an “extremely severe” situation in the second half of this year as non-economic factors increase and interfere with China’s foreign trade, my country’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

Li Xingqian, director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that some countries’ forced implementation of ‘decoupling’, ‘cutting (supply chain)’, and so-called ‘de-risking’ are artificial obstacles to normal trade. ” According to CNBC’s translation, it is in Mandarin. He introduced the work situation in the first half of this year to reporters at a press conference.

China’s exports, a key contributor to domestic growth, have fallen sharply in recent months as global growth has slowed.

On Wednesday, Lee pointed to an overall slowdown. He also said this year’s figures were on a high footing as trade had increased during the three-year period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lee also directly addressed calls for supply chain diversification.

“Businesses say the politicization of trade in some countries has forced orders and production to move out, hurting the economic interests of suppliers and buyers,” he said. He added that the ministry would help businesses deal with “unjustified trade restrictions”.

The ministry did not disclose its recently announced export controls, which will come into effect on Aug. 1 for the two major metals.

The United States is using its own export controls to limit the development of high-end Chinese technology. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated over the past few years, prompting other countries to act as well.

At the same time, China is seeking to retain and attract foreign investment. apple’Tim Cook, teslaElon Musk and many other business leaders have traveled to China since the country eased border restrictions this year.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has met with more than 20 visiting foreign business executives this year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday. The ministry reiterated its efforts to hold regular roundtable meetings with foreign companies in China and address operational challenges.

Among other plans, the Commerce Ministry said it would make changes to allow foreign investors to increase the size of their strategic investments in listed companies.