China's imports are part of global economic growth

Reference:CGTN | Updated:31 Aug 2020

China's changing trade strategy from "selling to the world" to "buying from the world" has contributed to global economic growth and benefited the country's trade partners across the world through the economic turmoil caused by coronavirus outbreak.

It's less than 100 days to this year's China International Import Expo, and companies across the globe are signing up and sometimes even fighting for an exhibition booth, according to an official from the Ministry of Commerce in China (MOFCOM).

Hosting the expo is an important measure for China to support free trade, economic globalization and actively opening up its market to the world, according to the official.

A stable China trade does not only benefit itself, it will also promote the country's trading partners' growth, and thus benefit the global economy and people all around the world.

Since January last year, China has lowered temporary tax rate for over 700 imported items, on top of that, China also lowered tariff for 298 imported information technology products since July last year. Since the beginning of this year, China added another over 850 imported items to the tariff reduction list.

The continuing decreasing tariffs is mutually beneficial to China and the rest of the world. It has provided an economic boost to foreign exporters, while enriching the domestic supply, which could help drive down the living cost in China and meet people's demands for a more diversified products supply.

In 2019, China's consumer goods import increased 20 percent compare to the year before, reached 1.4 trillion yuan. The import of soybeans and beefs increased 17.9 and 42.9 percent respectively year on year.

China is also continuing to boost trade between Belt and Road countries, trade volume with Belt and Road countries reached 4.3 trillion yuan in the first half of 2020, though down by 0.9 percent compare to the same period last year, but what's worth noting is that China's trade volume dropped 2.3 percent as a whole in the first half of this year, impacted by coronavirus outbreak.

By continue to expand import even during tough times, China portrayed itself as a responsible major power to the rest of the world, and shared its economic dividends with the rest of the world, said Gao Feng, a MOFCOM spokesperson.

As China continues to open up, "China import" will become a new engine driving global economic growth, said Gao.