Foreign Trade Trends in 5 Years

Foreign trade: Export-led →Import export balanceDuring the 12th five-year period (2011-2015)， with foreign trade remaining as a major force for domestic economic growth， China will seek a new phase of economic growth boosted by consumption， investment and export.To this end， efforts are to be made as follows: fi rstly， when expanding domestic demand， China should stabilize external demand with further exploration. With a stable market share in developed countries， the country needs to strive for foreign trade market diversifi cation by nudging into new territory， the emerging markets in particular. Secondly， foreign trade requires balanced development with more imports of resources， energy， hi-tech products together with key equipment and components， of which China is in urgent need for economic development. Thirdly， international trade calls for an optimal structure. Homegrown products may command enhanced international competitiveness defined by higher technological content and added value via fostering a new cutting edge with technologies， brands， quality and services at the core. Transformation and upgrading of processing trade will be facilitated through extending the domestic value-added chain and great support will be granted to general trade. Service trade deficit is to be reduced by vigorously developing service trade.— International Business DailyT e policy of opening up to the outside world aims at balancing trade payment， equilibrating internal and external economic development， and easing external impact on domestic economy. International cooperation in the agriculture and energy resource sectors will deepen for the consideration of domestic food security and energy security.— China Post SecuritiesThis means economic development mode depending merely on investment and export needs to be transformed.— Fan Wei， Senior Researcher of Hongyuan SecuritiesInvestment: “Bring in” and “Go out” hand in handAgainst the backdrop of higher economic development level and surging outbound investment， China will divert from such an investment pattern dominated by absorbing foreign capital to a new one where utilizing inbound investment runs side by side with effecting investment abroad. In terms of sector and region preferences， inbound investment should be directed towards the service sector and channeled to China’s central and western regions. T us， structure of utilizing foreign investment will be optimized. As for the mode of using overseas investment， overseas investors are encouraged to undertake MA rather than Greenfield investment in order to revitalize stock assets. On the one hand， foreign investors are encouraged to set up RD centers and marketing networks in China to speed up localization of inbound investment; on the other hand， local enterprises are urged to enhance capacities for providing multinational corporations with auxiliary facilities. Introduction of talents and technologies from abroad is conducive to improve labor productivity.In the mean time， the central government will accelerate the implementation of the “going global” strategy， which needs to conform to the overall trend of economic development mode transformation and economic restructuring. T e “going global” strategy is to be carried out in combination with extending external contacts and off ering more economic aid to developing countries. In the implementation of “going global”， diff erential strategies and policies will be developed for diff erent sectors， and private enterprises and small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as state-owned enterprises should be brought together into full play. China endeavors to cultivate a batch of multinationals by granting more fi nancial support for enterprises to go abroad and by establishing and perfecting risk prevention mechanism for outbound investment.— International Business DailyRMB: to experience internationalizationIn the upcoming fi ve years， China’s foreign trade will orient towards a new blueprint — more prominence is to be given to “balance of import export and of absorbing overseas investment and eff ecting investment abroad”， which was proposed by the 12th Five-year Plan. T e change of foreign trade mix and investment structure will also be conducive to the internationalization of RMB.T e Ministry of Commerce is compiling the 12th Five-year Plan on FDI Outfl ow and External Cooperation， designing medium- and long-term development plans targeting key nations and sectors， and is negotiating medium- and long-term development plans on economic and trade cooperation with foreign counterparts. Departments concerned will earnestly carry out research on overseas investment environment and scientific evaluation of investment projects. The Ministry of Commerce will issue on a regular basis such guidance documents as Catalogue of Countries and Industries for Guiding Investment Overseas and Catalogue of Countries and Industries for Contracting Project Overseas. In future， we will work for setting up special fund on external economic and technological cooperation， special fund on guaranty letter risks for overseas project contracting and development fund on overseas economic and trade cooperation zones. More preferential credit will be granted to such countries and regions as Africa， Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Management on foreign reserve for FDI will thereby be improved.— Li Gang， Director of Research Department of European Studies， Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation， Ministry of CommerceChina: a driving force for investment and trade liberalizationChina will be committed to carrying out multi-tier regional and subregional cooperation across the world. In accordance with the step-by-step principle featuring a multitude of means and distinctive focuses， China will speed up the implementation of FTA strategy and will advance regional cooperation. While pushing forward ongoing negotiation on FTA， China will study the feasibility to negotiate FTA with other countries especially in East Asia and the Asian and Pacifi c regions.In the course of negotiating FAT， special importance should be attached to deepening cooperation with emerging economies and developing countries， and to expanding foreign trade markets by making full use of FTA. Meanwhile， China， with enhanced economic status on the international stage， will actively participate in global economic governance and will claim more discourse power on global economic and trade rules in the international trade and fi nance sectors. In this way， China will make its contribution to the reform of the international monetary system， the establishment of an equal， inclusive and win-win bilateral trade mechanism characterized by a fair and rationale international economic order， and the elimination of protectionism in various types.— International Business DailyLinksWhat Is Said in the Plan?T e Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee on Making the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for the National Economy and Social Development emphasizes that the Chinese government will implement the mutually benefi cial and win-win strategy， and further improve the level of opening up to the outside world. Here are more details.To adapt to the new trend that the Chinese opening-up strategy will shift its dependence from export and introduction of foreign investments to an equal emphasis on export and import， introduction of foreign investments and overseas investments， the Chinese government should adopt a more proactive strategy， expand the space and fi eld of opening up， diversify and deepen the convergence of all parties’ interests， improve the mechanism that could more adapt to the opening-up economy， prevent risks eff ectively， and promote development， reform and creation through the opening up policy.Optimize foreign trade structure. Further stabilize and expand foreign demands， and maintain current export competitiveness， accelerate developing core competencies with technology， brand， quality and service as the essences， extend the value-added chain of domestic processing trade， promote market diversifi cation， vigorously develop service trade， and promote the transformation and upgrading of export structure. Let import play an important role in maintaining macro-economic balance and restructuring， to achieve a balance of foreign trade.Raise the quality and level of foreign capital utilization. To use foreign capital requires an optimization of structure， enriching of methods， expansion of channels， improvement in soft investment environment， and protection of investors’ legal rights. Increase eff orts to introduce more intelligence， talents and technologies， encourage foreign companies to establish RD centers in China， borrows ideas from the internationally advanced management beliefs， rule and experience， and further promote the institutional and technological creativity. Open service industries like finance and logistics more widely to the outside world， develop service outsourcing， steadily open up education， medical and physics fields， introduce high quality resources and improve the international level of the service industry.Speed up the implementation of “go global” strategy. In accordance with market orientation and corporate self-decision making principle， we should promote all ownership enterprises to invest cooperatively in foreign countries. We should develop overseas project contracting， expand international cooperation in agriculture， deepen the mutually benefi cial cooperation in international energy and resources， and actively develop cooperative projects conducive to local livelihood. We should also develop our multi-national corporations and international fi nancial institutions， and improve international operation level. We should expand the role played by RMB in transborder trade and investment， study well the overseas investment environment， and enhance the scientifi c evaluation of investment projects， to protect Chinese foreign interests and rights， and prevent all types of risks.Actively participate into global economic management and regional cooperation. We should further the reform of national economic structure， and promote the international economic system to develop toward a fair and just one. We should establish a multi trade system that is balanced， universally benefi cial and leads to win-win result， and also fi ght against all forms of protectionism. We should guide and promote the regional cooperation， accelerate the implementation of free trade zone strategy， deepen cooperation with emerging market powers and developing countries， and raise economic assistance to developing countries.