Stabilize foreign trade and welcome a combination of policies: encourage overseas warehouse construc

In 2021, the total value of my country's foreign trade will exceed US$6 trillion, a new record high. In order to realize the "stable door opening" of foreign trade this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Cross-Cycle Adjustment and Further Stabilizing Foreign Trade" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), proposing 15 policy measures in four aspects, striving to maintain orders, stabilize expectations, and promote Foreign trade developed steadily.

At present, my country's foreign trade is faced with more uncertain, unstable and unbalanced factors, and the foundation of foreign trade operation is not solid. This year, the task of stabilizing foreign trade is unprecedentedly difficult. The "Opinions" issued this time put forward 15 policy measures from four aspects: strengthening fiscal, taxation and financial policy support, further encouraging the development of new foreign trade formats, alleviating the pressure on foreign trade supply chains, and supporting key enterprises in key industries. foreign trade.

Strengthen the support of fiscal, taxation and financial policies, and speed up the progress of export tax rebates

Faced with problems such as rising freight costs and raw material costs that have increased the burden on enterprises, the document issued this time proposes to continue to speed up the progress of export tax rebates and reduce the average time to less than 6 working days; consolidate and enhance the role of export credit insurance, and increase support for small, medium and micro enterprises. Foreign trade enterprises and the risk of cancellation of orders before shipment, as well as support for new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses; credit support.

Gao Shiwang, director of the Industry Development Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, told reporters that these measures will help ease the financial pressure of foreign trade enterprises, especially small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises. Repayment of corporate funds. Through export credit insurance financing loans and other methods, the financial pressure of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, can be relieved, and the macro-level stability of foreign trade and the operation of micro-enterprises can be stabilized.”

The overall upward trend of the RMB exchange rate has also caused some foreign trade companies to "do not increase their export revenue and increase their income without increasing their profits". The document issued this time aims to maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level, enhance the awareness and ability of foreign trade enterprises to hedge against exchange rate risks, and actively and steadily promote RMB cross-border trade settlement. Ren Hongbin, Vice Minister of Commerce, said that in the next step, enterprises will be guided to "seek according to the situation", banks will be encouraged to "implement policies according to the enterprise", local governments will be "adapted to local conditions", and enterprises will be "guided to establish a (exchange rate) risk-neutral awareness and learn to use and avoid them. Use risk tools to further improve the ability to deal with exchange rate risks. Encourage banks to actively connect with enterprises, keep abreast of 'personalized' demands, and research and provide more targeted hedging products and services."

Encourage the development of new foreign trade formats such as overseas warehouses

In 2021, new forms of trade represented by overseas warehouses and cross-border e-commerce will flourish and become a highlight of foreign trade growth. The document proposes to encourage financial institutions to increase their support for the construction and use of overseas warehouses by various enterprises through market operation, and to promote the high-quality development of overseas warehouses.

According to Li Xingqian, director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, the number of overseas warehouses in my country has exceeded 2,000. In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will encourage traditional foreign trade enterprises, cross-border e-commerce enterprises and logistics enterprises to jointly participate in the construction of overseas warehouses. "Strive to cultivate a group of overseas warehouses with distinctive features and advanced functions. Encourage qualified financial institutions to launch targeted financing and credit insurance products and services, and increase financial support for the construction of overseas warehouses."

Ease the pressure on the foreign trade supply chain and crack down on behaviors such as driving up freight rates

At present, the problem of "blocking and breaking" of the global industrial chain and supply chain is still ongoing, resulting in many companies "doing not dare to accept orders". In order to ease the pressure on international logistics, the document proposes to encourage foreign trade companies to sign long-term agreements with shipping companies. Guide all localities and importers and exporters associations to organize small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises and shipping enterprises to conduct direct customer docking.

The person in charge of a transportation company explained to reporters that in the face of problems such as high shipping freight rates, foreign trade enterprises of different sizes have different ability to deal with risks, so they need to "implement policies according to the enterprise". "(Signing) a long-term agreement requires customers to have strength and sufficient volume, and at the same time, the volume of goods must be stable, weekly and monthly. In addition, customers must have credit. Some small businesses may have less than 100 people. , (the supply of goods is not enough and not stable enough), (in the shipping market) the second-hand and third-hand (freight forwarders) have raised the freight rate. We establish direct contact with these small and medium-sized customers and directly provide them with boxes, warehouses and suitable freight."

Regarding the rumors that "high freight rates are largely caused by freight forwarding behaviors", the document also emphasizes that the supervision of international shipping will continue to be strengthened, and violations of laws and regulations will be cracked down in accordance with the law, such as charging and driving up freight rates. Investigate suspected monopolistic behavior in accordance with laws and regulations. On multilateral and bilateral occasions, we call for the smooth flow of international logistics. Li Xingqian has also repeatedly proposed to strengthen international cooperation and ease the pressure on international logistics faced by enterprises. "Effectively responding to the epidemic and ensuring a smooth supply chain requires strengthening international cooperation more than ever."

Support key industries and key enterprises

In addition, the document proposes to support key industries and key enterprises. Strengthen the cultivation and construction of national processing trade industrial parks, cultivate a number of trade dual-circulation enterprises, and support labor-intensive product export enterprises in a compliant manner.

"Effectively maintain the continuity and stability of policies. Policies that are conducive to stabilizing growth will be implemented and effective as soon as possible, so as to strive for early implementation. We must use stable policies to drive the stability of foreign trade entities and market expectations, and make forward-looking cross-cycle adjustments to promote Foreign trade has developed steadily and healthily." Ren Hongbin said.