China vows to help companies export more despite growing backlash
It aims to promote the development of trade and address rising protectionism
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CHINA will attempt to boost exports further, with Beijing promising to support its companies to increase shipments despite a rising global backlash over an influx of cheap Chinese goods.
Beijing will provide financial and diplomatic help for exporting companies, said Wang Shouwen, the Chinese international trade representative and a vice-minister of commerce. The government will also direct Chinese shipping companies to boost cargo capacity and bolster e-commerce, he said at a Friday (Nov 22) press conference in Beijing.
Those promises come despite growing pushback against the nation’s surging exports, with total shipment value on track to rise to the highest this year.
The new policies are aimed at promoting the development of “high-quality” trade and helping companies solve practical problems in areas such as trade financing, insurance and shipping, Wang said. The policies also seek to address rising protectionism, he added, without offering detail.
The export boom has been making China’s international goods trade increasingly unbalanced. The surplus this year has neared a record, while import growth has flatlined due to the struggling domestic economy. Weak Chinese demand has pushed the world’s second-largest economy into deflation, which is reflected in the falling price of exports since May 2023.
While some consumers overseas welcome the cheaper Chinese goods, more and more companies and governments fault China for undercutting their own prices and revenues. A number of nations have raised tariffs on Chinese steel, electric vehicles and other goods, and US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened high levies on all Chinese products.
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Beijing has begun to take small steps to rein in the export boom, with the government last week cancelling tax rebates for some industrial goods that had encouraged companies to ship overseas. However, that move has roiled the aluminium industry, which is heavily dependent on supply from China. BLOOMBERG
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