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Regular Press Conference of MOFCOM (January 28, 2021)

Friends of the press, good afternoon. Welcome to MOFCOM’s regular press conference. First of all, I have two announcements to make.

Gao Feng: First, on rural e-commerce in poverty-stricken counties designated by the central government.

According to big data of the third-party commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce, in 2020, the total online retail sales of the 832 poor counties designated by the central government amounted to 301.45 billion yuan, up by 26.0% year-on-year. In breakdown, retail sales in the fourth quarter reached 94.57 billion yuan, up by 30.4% year-on-year. The main indicators continue to improve and the momentum of growth keeps building up. The main features are as follows.

First, e-commerce was on a notably upward trajectory. In terms of growth on a quarterly basis, the year-on-year growth rates were 5.0%, 32.0%, 34.5%, 30.4% from the first to the fourth quarter respectively. In terms of categories, retail sales of physical goods stood at 176.97 billion yuan, up by 48.0% year-on-year, which was 16.6 percentage points higher than that of 2019; retail sales of services totaled 124.48 billion yuan, up by 4.1% year-on-year.

Second, physical goods played a dominant part in e-commerce. In 2020, retail sales of physical goods accounted for 58.7% of the total in these impoverished counties, which was 8.7 percentage points higher than that of 2019. In breakdown, the top three best-selling products were food and health care products, home decoration and furnishing, and clothing and apparel, with retail sales of 88.18 billion yuan, 16.9 billion yuan, and 13.32 billion yuan, up 69.3%, 25.8%, and 9.1%, respectively. Online retail sales of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, books and audio-visual goods skyrocketed, up 192.5% and 110.6% respectively.

Third, services at large recovered to the pre-pandemic level. Online retail sales of services turned positive from negative in the fourth quarter for the first time this year. In 2020, online retail sales of food and beverage reached 50.5 billion yuan, up by 13.5% year-on-year. Online retail sales of games, phone bills and life services totaled 4.8 billion yuan and 7.53 billion yuan, up 59.7% and 29.5% year-on-year respectively. Online sales of traveling services dipped by 6.1% year-on-year to 58.06 billion yuan.

Fourth, agricultural products continued to grow fast. In 2020, online retail sales of agricultural products in these impoverished counties amounted to 40.66 billion yuan, up by 43.5% year-on-year, which was14.6 percentage points higher than in 2019, showing that more farmers sold their products online. In breakdown, online sales of herbs, fruits and tea drinks were 11.25 billion yuan, 8.78 billion yuan and 7.59 billion yuan, up 39.9%, 68.8% and 36.5% respectively.

Fifth, efforts to alleviate poverty via rural e-commerce paid off. To overcome the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers have made the most of rural e-commerce to sell agricultural and sideline products and buy daily necessities. Many migrant workers and undergraduates who could not go back to work or universities in time due to the epidemic managed to get jobs or start their own businesses near where they stay with the help of e-commerce. By the end of 2020, the total number of online businesses in the poverty-stricken counties designated by the central government amounted to 3.065 million, up by 366,000 or 13.7% from 2019.

Second, on the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in 2021

The first WTO mini-ministerial meeting in 2021 will be held by video conference on January 29. Minister Wang Wentao of Commerce will attend the meeting at the invitation of the host Guy Palmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation and Minister of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.

Gao Feng: That’s all for the announcements. Next, I’d like to answer your questions. The floor is open.


21st Century Business Herald: Data indicated that dining at a restaurant this Spring Festival would witness a significant decrease. According to data disclosed by a food delivery platform, the number of online searches for the “New Year’s Eve dinner” since the first day of the 12th lunar month is four times higher than that of the same period last year. Sets for singles and ready-to-cook meals have become the bright spots of the New Year’s Eve dinners. What do you make of the popularity of New Year’s Eve dinner ordered online? How can MOFCOM safeguard online consumption during this year's Spring Festival?

Gao Feng: The popularity of online ordering of New Year’s Eve dinner reflects the new trend of online retail of food and beverage. It is expected to become a new growth driver of food consumption. In order to meet consumers’ needs for food ordering and delivery during the Spring Festival and a happy holiday, MOFCOM has issued technical guidelines in collaboration with relevant departments to urge and guide food and beverage businesses to prepare standard sets and ready-to-cook meals suitable for food delivery and provide personalized, diverse and high-quality services on condition that they comply with the epidemic prevention and control protocols during the Spring Festival. Meanwhile, we will ask food delivery platforms to work with food and drink services providers to launch a special section for the New Year’s Eve dinner ordering and delivery when appropriate to make it easier for consumers to order online; and encourage food deliveryman to spend their Spring Festival holiday where they work and provide food delivery services during the holiday.

With regard to other online consumption, in order to provide support for the people who will stay where they live and work during the Spring Festival, we have also taken active measures. Together with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Consumer Protection Association and other organizations, we have organized the "2021 online shopping fair for Spring Festival" and other consumption promotion activities to help consumers shop for festive goods and prevent the risk of epidemic transmission caused by crowds. At the same time, as long as epidemic prevention measures are well implemented, we actively guide and urge companies to prepare daily necessities and epidemic prevention materials and offer diversified health, entertainment and other services, guide relevant enterprises to continue to provide goods and services during the Spring Festival, and strengthen various safeguard measures, such as enhancing transportation capacity, customer services and consumer rights, so as to ensure that the people will enjoy a prosperous and peaceful Spring Festival. Thank you.


Phoenix TV: The U.S. International Trade Commission launched 337 investigations on certain electrical connectors and cage products, and two of the companies involved were Chinese mainland enterprises. It is reported that the International Trade Commission will decide on when the investigation will end 45 days after the case was filed. What is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce?

Gao Feng: We have noticed that on December 18, 2020, Amphenol Corporation of the United States submitted an application for 337 investigations to the International Trade Commission of the United States for certain electrical connectors and cages. On January 21, 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided to launch an investigation into the case. At present, Chinese companies involved are actively handling the case.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to IPR protection and has always asked enterprises to respect intellectual property rights. At the same time, we also oppose the practice of protectionism through abused IPR protection. The Ministry of Commerce will continue to guide Chinese enterprises to handle the cases in accordance with law and earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. I hope that the International Trade Commission of the United States can conduct investigations objectively, fairly and impartially in accordance with law, and properly resolve intellectual property disputes among companies. Thank you.


Economy Daily: According to Indian media, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India issued a latest notice that 59 Chinese mobile phone applications, including TikTok, Baidu, wechat and UC browser, will be permanently banned in June this year. What is the comment of the Ministry of Commerce?

Gao Feng: We have noticed the media reports. China has asked the Indian authorities for a clarification.

China opposes any discriminatory and restrictive measures against Chinese enterprises. The Chinese government has always required Chinese enterprises to abide by international rules, operate in accordance to laws and rules, and respect local public order and morality during their overseas operations. The development achievement of China-India economic cooperation and trade is hard-won and serves the common interests of the two peoples. It is hoped that India and China will work towards the same goal, and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for the investment and operation of market players from all countries in India, including Chinese enterprises, so as to bring bilateral economic cooperation and trade between China and India back on track at an early date. Thank you.


China News Service: How do you evaluate China-Russia business relations in 2020? Will the slight decline in China-Russia trade affect the realization of the trade objectives for both sides?

Gao Feng: In 2020, China-Russia economic cooperation and trade stood the test of COVID-19 and showed strong resilience. It can be said that "true gold fears no fire". The fundamentals of mutually complementary cooperation and long-term prospects for both sides have not changed.

According to China’s statistics, China-Russia bilateral trade value fell slightly to USD 107.77 billion in 2020, passing the mark of USD 100 billion for three consecutive years. Our bilateral trade is characterized by the following features: First, closer trade cooperation. China has taken up a greater share in Russia’s foreign trade. For 11 years in a row, China remains Russia’s largest trading partner, and Russia is China’s tenth largest trading partner. Second, stronger momentum for steady growth of trade. Bilateral trade has picked up since the middle of last year. With China’s export to Russia emerging from the negative range, it has grown positively for six consecutive months by more than 7% monthly on average in the second half of 2020. Third, robust growth in imports of commodities from Russia, such as oil, gas and iron ore. Fourth, emerging new growth points. In 2020, agricultural trade value hit a record high of USD 5.55 billion, of which China’s imports grew by 13.7% to USD 4.09 billion. China now has become Russia’s largest exporting market of agricultural products and meat products. The “stay-at-home economy” has greatly driven up exports of electronic products to Russia, with laptops, tablet PCs up by 39% and 29% respectively. Chinese brand smart phones have topped the Russian market in terms of sales volume. Fifth, more diversified models of transport and logistics. Both countries have fully leveraged the China-EU Rail Express, vigorously developed rail-sea and road-rail multimodal transport, in a way that boosts bilateral trade with wider transport networks and greater choices.

There are also highlights in areas other than trade. First, investment and contracted engineering projects have grown against the downward trend. In 2020, Russia received USD 340 million of non-FDI from China, up by 41.7%. China’s newly signed contracted projects were worth of USD 5.87 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of the total newly signed contractual value with Russia. Second, steady progress has been made in strategic major projects. The middle section of China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline has been put into use. Construction of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) project has been kicked off. Third, cooperation in science, technology and innovation has been advanced across the board. The Sino-Russian research and technology innovation fund with a total amount of USD 1 billion has been put into operation, and the two sides have made positive progress in cooperation on 5G, cloud services, smart travel, etc. Fourth, cooperation at local levels has been deepened. China remains the largest trading partner of the Russian Far East, Siberia, Urals and Northwestern Federal District. The two countries have revised the Program for the Development of China-Russia Trade, Economic, and Investment Cooperation in Russia’s Far East in 2018–2024. Online engagement has been carried out by the two sides at local levels to boost trade and resume work and production.

Moving forward, we will work with Russia to keep implementing the important consensus reached by our heads of states: First, intensifying cooperation in combating COVID-19. Second, advancing bilateral trade and supporting the development of e-commerce and other new business forms and models. Third, expanding cooperation in two-way investment and strategic major projects, and fostering new growth points in cooperation on science, technology and innovation. Fourth, strengthening local cooperation by pairing off key provinces and oblasts of the two countries, making good use of exhibitions and promoting the development of cooperation parks. Fifth, moving forward with trade and economic institutional arrangements, optimizing business environment and enhancing coordination in multilateral forums.

We are convinced that in 2021, our concerted efforts will bring about sound and robust development of China-Russia commercial relations, and early recovery of our bilateral trade towards the target of USD 200 billion. Thank you!


China Business News: The US International Trade Commission said on the 22nd that it has determined that wood moldings and millwork products from China have injured the US wood product industry. According to the report, the US Department of Commerce has been carrying out anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on these products. How does MOFOCM comment on that?

We have noted that the US International Trade Commission made a ruling on the case related to the wood mouldings and millwork products from China, determining that the products concerned from China have injured a US industry. The US, in its investigations, has ignored the facts, resorted to the “surrogate country” approach, abused adverse presumptions, and seriously harmed the interests of Chinese companies, US downstream industries and consumers, to which China firmly opposes.

China will follow closely on the case, keep encouraging and supporting Chinese companies to actively respond to the lawsuits, and will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. Thank you!


Market News International: Recently, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment of Australia said he had written a letter to China to seek to reopen dialogues, while hoping that China could lift its ban on Australian coal. How would MOFCOM respond to that?

China has been consistent on developing China-Australia trade and economic relations. The difficulties in China-Australia relations are not what China hopes to see. The sound and steady relations between the two countries serve our common interests. We hope Australia can do more that contributes to mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides and return bilateral ties to the normal track as soon as possible. Thank you!


That’s the end of today’s press conference. Thank you.

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