More efforts to grow foreign trade

A container ship is being loaded at a dock in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Saturday. China's foreign trade was valued at about 2.07 trillion yuan ($333 billion) in June. [Photo/China Daily]

The government has announced a round of measures to boost its flagging trade growth, including the creation of a pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, streamlining the administration of export-tax rebates, and removing a variety of import and export charges.

Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, said the country will also strengthen previous policy guarantees made to keep foreign trade growth steady, such as on maintaining the basic stability of the renminbi's exchange rate, substantially improving financial services regulation and stepping up support for export credit insurance to reduce the burden on enterprises.

The ministry will accelerate the development of new business models in foreign trade, Wang said, and step up the implementation of guidelines on promoting cross-border e-commerce.

More plans to expand the pilot free trade zone program and promote new business models for foreign trade will be introduced in 2016.

China's foreign trade amounted to 11.53 trillion yuan ($1.88 trillion) in the first half of the year, down 6.9 percent from a year earlier.

Exports increased by 0.9 percent to 6.57 trillion yuan while imports slumped 15.5 percent to 4.96 trillion yuan.

Wang Kang, deputy director-general of the State Administration of Taxation, said that after deepening business tax and value-added tax reforms, and implementing a wider zero-tariff rate or tax exemption policy, a solid foundation had been created for foreign trade development.

Since the initiation of VAT reform, more tax rebates had been granted to trade and services other than for simple sales of goods, he said.