The Ministry of Commerce will hold a regular press conference at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, 2024. He Yadong, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, attended the meeting to introduce the relevant situation and answer questions from the media.
The following is the transcript of the press conference
He Yadong
Dear journalists,
Good afternoon, and welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce. I have no information to inform you today. Next, I would like to answer the questions raised by journalists.
Now I have a question.
Reporter of the Daily Economic News
The Action Plan to Promote Trade-in of Consumer Goods has been released for some time now. What is the progress of the trade-in process and what results have been achieved?
He Yadong
Thank you for your question, and thank you for your interest in the trade-in of consumer goods. On March 27, the Ministry of Commerce and 14 other departments jointly issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Trade-in of Consumer Goods", and on April 26, together with the Ministry of Finance and other departments, issued the "Implementation Rules for Automobile Trade-in Subsidy". After the release of the relevant documents, the work has progressed smoothly and made a good start, and the policy effect has gradually emerged.
Taking car trade-in as an example, as of today's press conference, the number of applications for car scrapping and renewal subsidies has exceeded 40,000, showing an accelerated growth trend. Specifically, on April 27, the Ministry of Commerce's automobile trade-in information platform received the country's first application for automobile scrapping and renewal subsidies, and it took 25 days to apply for more than 10,000 applications; From the 10,000th application to the 20,000th application, it took 7 days; Then to the 30,000th application, it took only 4 days.
From the sales of automobiles, home appliances and other products, in May, the retail sales of passenger cars in the country were about 1.685 million, an increase of about 10% month-on-month, of which the retail sales of new energy vehicles were about 790,000, accounting for 47% of the overall retail sales of passenger cars; The number of scrapped motor vehicles recycled was 577,000, an increase of 48.9% year-on-year and 16.2% month-on-month. From January to May, the trade-in sales of home appliances on major e-commerce platforms increased by 81.8% year-on-year.
In the process of policy implementation, we have focused on three aspects: First, grasp the mechanism. He has taken the lead in establishing an inter-ministerial coordination system for promoting the trade-in of consumer goods, as well as a work promotion mechanism for central and local linkage and government-enterprise coordination. The second is to grasp policies. Support the construction of a recycling system for renewable resources such as waste household appliances, coordinate relevant preferential measures such as tax reductions and exemptions, financial support, and corporate concessions, and continue to expand the policy package. The third is to grasp activities. It has successively held 18 activities of "National Consumer Goods Trade-in Action - Local Station", and successively launched the 2024 National Home Furnishing Renewal Consumption Season and the National Home Appliance Consumption Season.
In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to adhere to the two-wheel drive of "policy + activity" and make concerted efforts, implement the work with greater efforts and higher standards, and promote the trade-in of consumer goods to achieve more new results. Thank you.
Chinese international correspondent of the main station
We have noted that Minister Wang Wentao is visiting Europe recently.
He Yadong
At the invitation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise of Spain and the Ministry of Economy of Portugal, Minister Wang Wentao recently visited Spain and Portugal with the aim of promoting and deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Spain and Portugal. The specific activities during the visit have been publicly reported by both sides. You can check it out. Thank you.
Reporter of CBN Daily
Recently, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, presided over a roundtable meeting of Chinese enterprises in Spain in Barcelona, Spain, and investigated the joint venture factory of Chery Ebro. Since the beginning of this year, the EU has introduced a number of trade protectionist measures against China, how should the Ministry of Commerce view the cooperation between Chinese auto companies and the EU?
He Yadong
Recently, the EU has hyped up the so-called "China's overcapacity" and "unfair competition", discriminated against various trade methods, launched a series of intensive investigations on Chinese enterprises and products, distorted the definition of subsidies and abused rules and procedures in the investigation process, causing the risk of China-EU economic and trade frictions to continue to rise, seriously affecting enterprises' confidence in EU cooperation.
China has always believed that China and the EU are each other's important economic and trade partners and have a good foundation for cooperation, and that expanding cooperation and achieving win-win results in the midst of healthy competition is the right way to get along. The fact that some Chinese auto companies have chosen to build factories in Europe is a vivid portrayal of the complementary advantages and mutual benefit and win-win results between China and Europe, which is conducive to stimulating the local economy and employment, and promoting the development of the European new energy vehicle industry.
It is hoped that the EU will work with China to earnestly implement the important consensus reached at the recent trilateral meeting between China, France and the EU, properly handle economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultation, and accommodate the legitimate concerns of both sides. China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises. Thank you.
Reporter of Fujian Southeast Satellite TV
Recently, at the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, China put forward four goals and built "five major cooperation patterns", including a "more balanced economic and trade reciprocal pattern". What are the new measures for China-Arab cooperation in the economic and trade fields?
He Yadong
At the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held recently, President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech, proposing that China is willing to work with the Arab side to build the "five major cooperation patterns", inject new impetus into the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future, and inject more certainty and positive energy into the turbulent world.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. Over the past 20 years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of China and Arab States, China-Arab economic and trade cooperation has achieved wide-ranging, multi-level, all-round and leapfrog development. China has become the largest trading partner of Arab countries and an important infrastructure and investment partner, and the cooperation between the two sides in the fields of finance, aerospace, digital economy and green development has also shown a good momentum of development.
President Xi Jinping stressed the need to build a "more balanced pattern of economic and trade reciprocity", pointing out the direction for the next stage of China-Arab economic and trade cooperation. In the next step, China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Arab side and jointly promote greater development of China-Arab economic and trade cooperation.
The first is to enhance the level of trade cooperation. Accelerate the negotiation of the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement, and explore the signing of more bilateral and regional free trade agreements; Give full play to the role of cooperation mechanisms such as unimpeded trade and trade remedies, and promote cooperation on mutual recognition of standards; Encourage the Arab side to use the CIIE, China-Arab States Expo and other exhibitions to increase publicity and promotion, and expand the export of non-energy products to China.
The second is to deepen two-way investment cooperation. explore upgrading more bilateral investment treaties to enhance the level of investment protection promotion; Give full play to the agglomeration effect and leverage role of industrial parks, deepen industrial and supply chain cooperation, and accelerate the circulation of economic and industrial circles between China and Arab countries; Continue to promote the construction of the China Shipping Joint Investment Federation.
The third is to expand emerging areas of cooperation. Encourage the two sides to strengthen cooperation in cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses, further expand trade channels and enrich trade methods; Carry out exchanges and docking on digital economy development strategies, policies, regulations, rules and standards; We will continue to promote cooperation in green, low-carbon and sustainable development projects, and help the UAE diversify its economy. Thank you.
Reuters correspondent
The European Commission said it had received a letter from China calling for a resumption of trade relations. What measures does China think China and the EU need to take to achieve this goal? What areas is China willing to negotiate on?
He Yadong
Recently, the EU has intensively launched discriminatory investigations on Chinese electric vehicles, wind power, photovoltaic and other related products and enterprises, resulting in a rising risk of China-EU economic and trade frictions and affecting bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China has repeatedly expressed its concern and strong dissatisfaction over this, and hopes that the EU will abandon protectionism and return to the right path of dialogue and cooperation. China is ready to properly handle economic and trade frictions with the EU through dialogue and consultation, and accommodate the legitimate concerns of both sides. Thank you.
Source: Information Office of the Ministry of Commerce