MOFCOM Departments Launch Report on China’s Foreign Trade Situation (Autumn 2018)

　　商务部有关单位发布《中国对外贸易形势报告（2018年秋季）》

　　On November 12th, the Comprehensive Department of the Ministry of Commerce and the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation jointly launched the Report on China’s Foreign Trade Situation (Autumn 2018). The report reviews China's foreign trade operations in the first three quarters of 2018, and looks ahead into the development trend of China's foreign trade throughout 2018 and 2019. In the first three quarters of 2018, China's foreign trade has maintained a good momentum of steady growth. The growth rate was stable in general, the structure continued to be optimized, the transformation of growth drivers was accelerated, and the quality and efficiency of development were steadily improved. The impacts of the current China-US trade friction on China's foreign trade are limited.

　　11月12日，商务部综合司和国际贸易经济合作研究院联合发布《中国对外贸易形势报告（2018年秋季）》。报告回顾了2018年前三季度中国外贸运行情况，展望了2018年全年和2019年中国外贸发展趋势。2018年前三季度，中国对外贸易保持稳中向好态势，增速总体平稳，结构持续优化，动力加快转换，发展的质量和效益稳步提升。当前中美贸易摩擦对中国外贸影响总体有限。

　　According to the report, the current international market demand is relatively stable, domestic import demand is growing steadily, and China's foreign trade has the basic conditions for maintaining the steady growth. The rapid growth of imports and exports in the first three quarters provides strong support for maintaining the growth of foreign trade throughout the year. However, the high import and export bases in the fourth quarter of 2017 will have certain adverse impacts on the growth rates of imports and exports in the fourth quarter of 2018.

　　报告认为，当前国际市场需求较为稳定，国内进口需求稳步增长，中国外贸具备保持平稳增长的基础条件。前三季度进出口较快增长，为全年外贸保持增长提供了有力支撑。但2017年四季度进出口基数较高，将对2018年四季度进出口增速产生一定不利影响。

　　The report points out that the environment facing China's foreign trade development in 2019 is more challenging and complicated. The risks of the downward world economy are increasing and protectionism threatens the steady growth of global trade. At present, the fundamentals of China's foreign trade development are good and the policy environment is constantly improving, which embraces new development potentials. It is necessary to implement the new development vision, focus on the supply-side structural reform, meet the requirements of high-quality development, implement foreign trade policies, reduce the burden on import and export enterprises, accelerate the process of building a trade power, promote the "five optimizations" and "three constructions", actively foster new forms and modes of trade, and strive to maintain the stable development and quality improvement of foreign trade.

　　报告指出，2019年中国外贸发展面临的环境更加严峻复杂，世界经济下行风险增大，保护主义威胁全球贸易稳定增长。当前，我国外贸发展的基本面良好，政策环境不断改善，蕴含着新的发展潜力。要贯彻新发展理念，以供给侧结构性改革为主线，落实高质量发展要求，推动外贸政策落实，减轻进出口企业负担，同时加快贸易强国建设进程，推进“五个优化”“三项建设”，积极培育贸易新业态新模式，努力保持外贸平稳发展、质量提升。