The State Council Information Office held a press conference on March 26, 2024 at 3 pm. The Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced recent data and policies related to production, consumption, import and export, and answered questions from reporters. Let's take a look together——
Press Conference Overview——
The consumer market continues to recover and grow steadily, presenting three characteristics.
Import and export reached a new historical high in the first two months of this year.
Encourage and promote the exchange of old for new consumer goods such as automobiles and household appliances.
Accelerate the implementation of policies such as large-scale equipment updates.
We will moderately advance the construction of infrastructure such as 5G and computing power.
Accelerate the development of artificial intelligence, represented by large models, to empower the manufacturing industry.
Recent situation
Ministry of Commerce: The consumer market continues to recover and grow steadily
It can be summarized into three characteristics:
Major consumer goods such as automobiles and home furnishings are stabilizing and improving. The retail sales of goods increased by 4.6% year-on-year, with nearly 90% of the 16 categories of units above the quota achieving positive growth. Among them, the retail sales of communication equipment increased by 16.2% year-on-year; The retail sales of automobiles increased by 8.7% year-on-year, an increase of 2.8 percentage points compared to the entire year last year. Home consumption has also shown varying degrees of recovery, with retail sales of household appliances, furniture, and building materials for units above the quota increasing by 5.7%, 4.6%, and 2.1% year-on-year, respectively.
The consumption vitality of catering and tourism services has increased.
Driven by the holiday economy, the potential for service consumption is further unleashed. In the first two months, catering revenue increased by 12.5% year-on-year, an increase of 3.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year, accounting for 11.7% of the total social zero, and contributing 24.8% to the growth of the total social zero. The retail sales of services increased by 12.3%, continuing to maintain double-digit growth.
New types of consumption such as digital and green are flourishing.
Digital consumption is growing rapidly. In the first two months, the national online retail sales increased by 15.3% year-on-year, with physical goods online retail sales increasing by 14.4%. Green consumption is highly popular, especially for new energy vehicles. In the first two months, the retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles increased by 37.2% year-on-year.
General Administration of Customs: In the first two months of this year, imports and exports reached a new historical high of 6.6 trillion yuan, marking a successful start to foreign trade
The scale of imports and exports ranked first in history during the same period. In the first two months of this year, imports and exports reached a new historical high of 6.61 trillion yuan.
Double growth of exports and imports. Export growth of 10.3% and import growth of 6.7% not only reflect the sustained recovery and improvement of China's economic development, but also provide broad market space and cooperation opportunities for enterprises from various countries.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: China's industrial economy rebounded and improved in the first two months
It mainly presents three characteristics:
Industrial production is accelerating growth. In the first two months, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 7% year-on-year, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to December of the previous year.
Manufacturing investment continues to grow steadily. In the first two months, investment in manufacturing increased by 9.4% year-on-year, private investment in manufacturing achieved double-digit growth, and investment in technological upgrading increased by 15.1% year-on-year.
The growth rate of industrial exports has significantly rebounded. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to February, China's total industrial foreign trade in US dollars continued to grow. Among them, industries such as machinery and household appliances have achieved double-digit growth in exports.
Next steps
Ministry of Commerce: Encourage and promote the trade in of old for new consumer goods such as automobiles and household appliances
Recently, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange, deploying the work of exchanging old for new consumer goods. At present, we are urgently studying and refining measures, while fully respecting consumer wishes, to promote the conversion of cars into "energy", and gradually increase the sales proportion of new energy vehicles and energy-saving vehicles; Promote the transformation of household appliances into smart ones, and promote the development of household appliance consumption towards intelligence, greenness, and low-carbon; Promote the renovation of home furnishings, kitchens, and bathrooms, and support the renovation and partial renovation of more existing and second-hand houses.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology:
Accelerate the development of manufacturing industry empowered by artificial intelligence represented by large models
This year, the "Artificial Intelligence+" initiative will be launched to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy, and to empower new industrialization with artificial intelligence. Continuously optimize the innovation platform network. According to the already issued Implementation Opinions on Innovative Development of Manufacturing Pilot Plants, we will accelerate the construction of modern pilot plant capabilities and also build a number of national manufacturing innovation centers and experimental verification platforms. Build a world leading technology park and innovation highland. On the basis of the existing 178 national high-tech zones and 45 national advanced manufacturing clusters, this year we will launch the creation of national new industrialization demonstration zones and carry out work such as cultivating and improving advanced manufacturing clusters.
Moderately advance the construction of infrastructure such as 5G and computing power
We will moderately advance the construction of 5G, computing power and other infrastructure to promote the large-scale application of industrial Internet. At the same time, we will continue to promote the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, actively build intelligent factories, implement special actions for digital empowerment of small and medium-sized enterprises, accelerate digital technology empowerment, and promote the development of the manufacturing industry towards digitization, networking, and intelligence.
Promote the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries such as new generation information technology, intelligent connected vehicles, aerospace, and biological manufacturing
Cultivate and strengthen emerging industries. Promote the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries such as new generation information technology, intelligent connected vehicles, aerospace, and biological manufacturing, and accelerate the development and scale application of the Beidou industry. At the same time, advance layout and construction of future industries. In January of this year, our department, together with six departments, issued the Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries, strengthening forward-looking planning and policy guidance for future industries, and accelerating the development of future industries around the battlefield of manufacturing owners.
Accelerate the implementation of policies such as large-scale equipment updates
In accordance with the deployment of the State Council's Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange, focusing on promoting new industrialization and using large-scale equipment renewal as the starting point, we will implement manufacturing technology transformation and upgrading projects, with a focus on digital transformation and green upgrading, and promote the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the manufacturing industry.
General Administration of Customs: "One increase, one decrease, one excellence, and one strength" to better serve foreign trade with "quality improvement, quantity stability"
According to the deployment and arrangement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, this year the customs will continue to focus on improving the quality of policy measures and the level of customs supervision services, and seek practical solutions and practical results. Last week, we just held a deployment meeting for the special action to promote cross-border trade facilitation, and launched 33 reform and innovation measures that benefit enterprises and the people.
Overall, this year we will use a combination of policies such as "one increase, one decrease, one advantage, and one strength" to better serve the "quality improvement, quantity stability" of foreign trade.
"Zeng" means to increase convenience and enhance the level of trade facilitation. Including vigorously promoting the construction of smart customs, improving the efficiency of customs clearance throughout the entire import and export chain, expanding the "single window" function of international trade, accelerating the international mutual recognition of "certified operators" (AEOs), etc. In May, we will also host the Global AEO Conference, with the aim of promoting simplified procedures, more efficient customs clearance, and more convenient trade.
"Reducing" means reducing costs and helping enterprises reduce burden and fees. Fully unleash the policy dividends of RCEP and other free trade agreements, actively disclose information, and improve the level of benefits enjoyed by enterprises, and continuously regulate the charging behavior in the import and export process.
"Excellent" means providing excellent services and optimizing the business environment at ports. Timely introduce more "one enterprise, one policy" and "one industry, one policy" policy measures, and through the further strengthening of policy measures, make every effort to help enterprises expand the market and seize orders, and use the certainty of customs supervision services to respond to the uncertainty of changes in the foreign trade situation.
"Strong" means strong innovation and cultivating new drivers of foreign trade. Currently, the industrial foundation, factor endowment, and innovation capability that China's foreign trade development relies on are constantly improving, and the pace of customs innovation is also accelerating. On February 9th, the overall plan for the construction of Shanghai Oriental Hub International Business Cooperation Zone was approved; On March 1st, the Hengqin Guangdong Macao Deep Cooperation Zone was officially closed and put into operation; The construction of Hainan Free Trade Port is in full swing and progressing in an orderly manner. We will continue to focus on supporting the construction of open platforms, supporting the development of new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and bonded maintenance, vigorously carrying out innovation in customs supervision systems, and using new models of regulatory services to stimulate new momentum in foreign trade and shape new advantages in foreign trade.