China issues guidelines to stabilize scale, optimize structure of foreign trade

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China has released a guideline document to promote the stability of its foreign trade scale and to improve its structure.

Foreign trade plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of economic growth and employment, and the country aims to expand its market by boosting the promotion of trade, according to the document, which was issued by the General Office of the State Council.

It said that China will push for the comprehensive restoration of offline domestic exhibitions and strengthen its support for foreign trade companies participating in overseas exhibitions.

The guidelines noted the importance of efforts to facilitate the orderly resumption of international passenger flight services, especially those in key domestic aviation hubs.

China will also focus on scaling up its imports and exports of key foreign trade products, making efforts to connect auto companies with shipping companies and accelerating the revision of its catalogue of encouraged technology and product imports, per the document.

It also said that the country will step up its financial support, including efforts to encourage government-funded financing institutions to provide financing and credit enhancement support for small and micro foreign firms.

In terms of expediting the innovative development of foreign trade, the guidelines underline the importance of efforts to support foreign trade enterprises in expanding their sales channels through cross-border e-commerce and other new business modes.

The country will also improve the efficiency of its goods transportation and customs clearance to optimize the foreign trade development environment, the document said.