China's Commerce Ministry announces initiatives to stabilize foreign trade in 2025

China

China's Commerce Ministry announces initiatives to stabilize foreign trade in 2025

2025-01-16 16:59 Last Updated At：17:57

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday announced a set of initiatives to stabilize foreign trade in 2025, focusing on digitalization, green trade, and expansion of global business platforms amid growing external risks and challenges.

At a press briefing in Beijing, MOFCOM officials outlined plans to accelerate the development of new foreign trade drivers by embracing digitalization. This includes expanding the use of electronic trade documents and encouraging digitalization of the entire trade chain, aiming to streamline processes and improve efficiency.

Green trade will also be a priority, with efforts to help foreign trade enterprises adopt sustainable, low-carbon practices. Steps will be taken to promote the construction of smart logistics platforms overseas, as well as support cross-border e-commerce trade fairs and matchmaking events in regions with suitable infrastructure, thereby creating more opportunities for businesses to showcase products and for matchmaking between supply and demand, according to the officials.

"We will continue to compile and publish the 'Country Trade Guide' and other foreign trade promotion documentations, strengthening information exchange between Chinese and international businesses. We will actively expand the global network of high-standard free trade zones, establish new trade facilitation working groups on the basis of consultation, and pragmatically address the bottlenecks and challenges in bilateral trade to create more business opportunities," said Meng Yue, director of the Foreign Trade Department at the Ministry of Commerce, at the press briefing.

In addition, China will leverage major trade platforms such as the China International Import Expo and the Canton Fair to further market opening, boost imports, and foster innovation in international trade. These efforts are designed to transform China's vast market into a big opportunity for the world, according to the officials.

Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.

Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.

Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.

"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.

The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.