Meishan Port. [Photo by Tang Jiankai]

　　By Jin Lu

　　The value of China's foreign trade in the first four months of this year was 12.58 trillion yuan ($1.88 trillion), up 7.9 percent year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs announced on May 9th, among which exports totaled 6.97 trillion yuan, up 10.3 percent and imports reached 5.61 trillion yuan, up 5 percent.

　　However, the growth rate of foreign trade in the first four months was 2.8 percentage points lower than that of the first quarter.

　　For Ningbo, the key tasks must be effectively implemented with a clear division of responsibilities and solid steps taken to facilitate stable foreign trade while overcoming difficulties, according to a enterprise symposium on May 10th.

　　Ningbo's Foreign Trade

　　up 12.6% Jan-April

　　Ningbo's imports and exports were valued at 404.22 billion yuan ($62.19 billion) in the first four months of this year, an uptick of 12.6 percent year-on-year, according to the official statistics from Ningbo Customs.

　　To break down, its exports totaled 262.57 billion yuan, rising 16.6 percent year-on-year, while its import volume amounted to 141.65 billion yuan, an increase of 5.7 percent.

　　Despite the growth, the global economic recovery is uneven, monetary policy changes in major developed economies are having negative spillover effects on the world, and the bottlenecks of the global supply chain are still difficult to address.

　　All of these factors result in a slow down in the growth rate of foreign trade in April compared to the first three months.

　　"The second quarter will be even harder!" When talking about the current foreign trade development, Zhou Jule, Chairman of China-base Ningbo Group, said during the symposium.

　　"With the gradual restoration of overseas supply chains, more orders are transferring to Southeast Asia and other places. In addition, the rising prices of crude oil, coal, natural gas, and other materials will have a significant impact on exports," he added.

　　RCEP to Help Boost

　　Economic Growth

　　In the face of a more complex and souring external environment, the fact that Ningbo's imports and exports still maintained growth fully demonstrates Ningbo economy's strong resilience, ample potential, wide room for maneuver, and sound fundamentals.

　　On April 28, Bros Eastern Company released its first quarterly report. The company achieved an operating income of 1.975 billion yuan, a net profit of 345 million yuan attributable to shareholders of the listed company, an increase of 54.58% over the same period last year, and a net profit of 336 million yuan attributable to the parent after deduction, an increase of 55.82% over the same period last year.

　　Yang Weixin, the Chairman, was not surprised. "A few years ago, we set up a large-scale production base in Vietnam, which is a member of RCEP. In recent years, we have continuously optimized production capacity and expanded the layout, and thus win more market share."

　　For Ningbo, its economic and trade cooperation with RCEP countries has embarked on a fast growth track in recent years, with close collaboration across the entire manufacturing industrial chains.

　　Over the first four months, the Ningbo-RCEP trade volume hit 100.97 billion yuan, edging up 1 percent year-on-year.

　　As foreign trade faces multiple pressures, the RCEP is expected to provide more growth room for the exports through creating new market demand with tariff concessions.

　　Experts said that the RCEP will spur technological innovations and upgrades among manufacturers to meet market demand. It will also promote the establishment of new standards, rules and regulations among the member states, creating a more favorable external environment for the manufacturing sector to upgrade.

　　More Efforts Called for to

　　Help Boost Foreign Trade

　　Foreign trade still gives good support for achieving the goal of ensuring stability and improving the quality of Ningbo's foreign trade this year. But the complexity of the situation means that Ningbo needs to act more proactively.

　　"Policymakers must be soberly aware that foreign trade and foreign investment still face many risks and challenges due to internal and external uncertainties," said the expert.

　　Zhang Yan, the Director of the Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that the city is about to introduce a series of new foreign trade policy. Compared with the previous years, the city has increased its payment by 210 million yuan.

　　The government will give full play to the leading role of major foreign trade firms and speed up its cultivation of "little giants", or innovative small and medium-sized enterprises that have played a crucial role in consolidating the country's supply and industrial chains.

　　Through policy assistance, Ningbo works with China Export and Credit Insurance Corp to give full play to the role of export credit insurance in risk prevention and credit enhancement.

　　By stepping up the use of export credit insurance, the municipal department will protect exporters from the risk of nonpayment by foreign buyers, and improve foreign trade companies' risk-hedging capabilities amid fluctuations in the Renminbi-US dollar exchange rate, as part of its efforts to stabilize the market and spur foreign trade growth.

　　"We always say with great difficulties come great opportunities," Zhou Jule said that he will continue to do his best in the second quarter, and that he believes that the stable growth can be maintained.