Nation set to further boost foreign trade

China is making solid efforts in boosting the steady growth of its foreign trade sector, as this will give a much-needed boost to the continuous recovery and betterment of the economy, the State Council, the country's Cabinet, said on Friday.

China will ramp up financial support for the sector, expand the coverage and scale of export credit insurance, and make full use of policy-based loans for micro and small-sized enterprises, according to the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.

The country will also continuously improve financial services for foreign trade companies in areas such as credit approval, loan disbursement and repayments, while optimizing cross-border trade settlement to help enterprises enhance their currency risk management capabilities, according to a statement released by the meeting.

It was stressed that more steps will be taken to bolster new engines of growth in the foreign trade sector, with a focus on promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce and advancing the construction of overseas smart logistics platforms.

It is of great importance to strengthen services and support for enterprises engaged in foreign trade, such as enhancing maritime trade logistics capabilities and providing stronger support for cost-cutting and employment stabilization.

Dedicated efforts will be channeled to attract and make it more convenient for business personnel to engage in cross-border travel, and steadily advance the signing of mutual visa-free agreements with more countries.

In the first 10 months of this year, the country's foreign goods trade rose 5.2 percent from a year earlier to 36.02 trillion yuan ($5 trillion), with exports up 6.7 percent and imports 3.2 percent higher, said the General Administration of Customs.

In particular, the total value of goods imports and exports expanded 4.6 percent year-on-year in yuan terms in October, quickening from the 0.7 percent increase in September.

During the first 10 months, the country's foreign trade has maintained a stable growth trend, with the scale of trade expanding and the structure constantly improving, said Lyu Daliang, director of the administration's department of statistics and analysis.

"We are confident that the annual goals for both the quality and quantity of our foreign trade can be realized," Lyu said.

China is now moving at a faster pace to build a modern industrial system, developing new quality productive forces in a manner suited to local conditions, Lyu added.

The robust manufacturing base, complete industrial categories and the sheer scale of the industrial system continue to serve as solid foundations, further strengthening China's position in the global industrial and supply chain landscape, he said.