First 2 Months Export Report Card Released

According to customs statistics, in the first two months of 2024, the total import and export value of my country's trade in goods (the same below) was 6.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7 year-on-year (the same below). Among them, exports of 3.75 trillion billion yuan, an increase of 10.3. In US dollar terms, China's exports in the first two months were 528.01 billion US dollars, up 7.1 per cent.

From the export market, China's exports to ASEAN in the first two months were 587.9 billion billion yuan, up 9.2 percent;

exports to the eu were 555.88 billion billion yuan, up 1.6 percent;

exports to the united states were 521.99 billion yuan, up 8.1 percent;

exports to South Korea were 150.45 billion yuan, down 6.8 percent;

Exports to countries jointly building "the belt and road initiative" increased by 13.5 to 1.75 trillion yuan.

In terms of export products, mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 60% of exports, of which exports of automatic data processing equipment, integrated circuits and automobiles increased. In the first two months, China exported 2.22 trillion billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 11.8 percent, accounting for 59.1 percent of the total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its parts and components 195.45 billion yuan, an increase of 7.3; integrated circuits 160.71 billion yuan, an increase of 28.6; automobile 111.89 billion yuan, an increase of 15.8. During the same period, exports of labor-intensive products amounted to 666.19 billion yuan, up 22.2 per cent, or 17.8 per cent. Of this total, clothing and accessories were 166.2 billion yuan, up 16.3 percent; textiles were 154.33 billion yuan, up 18.9 percent; and plastic products were 118.28 billion yuan, up 26.5 percent. Exports of agricultural products totaled 105.37 billion billion yuan, up 5.9 percent.

Policy

Will cultivate new momentum of foreign trade development from four aspects

Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that in the medium and long term, in accordance with the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference and the government work report, the key is to cultivate new momentum of foreign trade and promote the high-quality development of foreign trade, focusing on four aspects:

One is to expand trade in intermediate goods.We will work with willing global trading partners to deepen cooperation in the production and supply chain and build an inclusive, resilient and sustainable industrial chain supply chain.

The second is to promote cross-border e-commerce exports.We will improve customs clearance, taxation, foreign exchange and other policies, and accelerate the construction of supply chains and ecosystems that adapt to the development of cross-border e-commerce.

The third is to improve the level of trade digitization.The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Global Trade Digital Pilot Zone, Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Foreign Trade Transformation and Upgrading Base will be used as carriers to enhance the digital level of trade. Accelerate the digitization of international trade documents, build consensus on cooperation in multilateral and bilateral fields, and explore cooperation paths.

The fourth is to promote the green development of trade.This is a trend in the future, which will support the trade of green and low-carbon products with high quality, high technology and high added value. We will build a public service platform for green development of trade, help foreign trade enterprises speed up the green and low-carbon transformation, and enhance the green development level of the supply chain of the foreign trade industry chain.

European Union

Waving a "tariff stick" on Chinese electric vehicles"

According to Reuters, on Tuesday (5th) local time, the European Commission issued an emergency notice stating that it plans to start customs registration of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) imported from China. According to the report, this is part of the EU's "countervailing investigation" against Chinese electric vehicles. If the final investigation finds that Chinese trams have received so-called "unfair subsidies", the EU may impose "retroactive duties" on these registered imported vehicles ".

The document issued by the European Commission claims that since the EU launched an investigation into Chinese trams in October last year to January this year, China's imports of electric vehicles have increased by more than 10% year-on-year, which "may" cause "losses" to EU manufacturers. Customs registration will be used to trace back and take measures against relevant Chinese trams in the future.

According to a notice issued on the official website of the European Commission on Tuesday, the registration mainly involves new battery electric vehicles from China with 9 seats or less and driven only by one or more electric motors. Motorcycle products are not under investigation.

Italy

Medical Device Manufacturers Concerned About MDR Certification Change

Recently, the Italian Ministry of Health issued a notice urging medical device manufacturers to speed up the coordination process with the EU Regulation 2017/745(MDR). The new EU MDR directive for medical devices has been in place for six years, but the number of certificates issued under the MDR is lower. Although Regulation (EU) No. 607 extends the validity of certificates issued under the previous Directive until 21 December 2028, manufacturers must submit a formal application to the notified body by 26 May 2024 and sign a contract with the notified body on the conformity assessment procedure by 26 September 2024.

In order to prevent the crowded queue before the application deadline, the Italian Ministry of Health urges medical device manufacturers to submit certification applications as soon as possible to ensure that both parties sign the contract within the set time frame (September 26, 2024) and ensure that the products continue to be put on the market.

Singapore

Strengthen electronic cigarette control

Singapore's Ministry of Health and Senior Under-Secretary of State for Legal Affairs Rahayu Mazan said in a debate on the Ministry of Health's expenditure budget in the Parliamentary Appropriation Committee on March 6 that in addition to strengthening law enforcement and publicity, the Ministry of Health is evaluating penalties for e-cigarette-related violations under the Tobacco (Advertising and Sales Control) Act to ensure that such crimes are severely cracked down.

Currently, under the Tobacco (Advertising and Sales Control) Act, the possession, smoking or purchase of e-cigarettes can be fined up to $2000. It is also an offence to import, distribute, sell or promise to sell electronic cigarettes and their components. The first offender is liable to a fine of up to $10000, or imprisonment for up to six months, or both, while the second offender is liable to a fine of up to $20000, or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both. All prohibited tobacco items will also be seized and confiscated.

Egypt

Currency plunges 40 percent to record low

On March 6, local time, the Egyptian currency, the Egyptian pound, suddenly collapsed. The exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar plummeted by nearly 40%, and once fell to 50.55 Egyptian pounds per US dollar, a record low. On the news, the Central Bank of Egypt announced at an interim meeting that the liberalization of exchange rate controls would allow market forces to determine foreign exchange rates.

Egypt's central bank meanwhile announced a "violent rate hike", raising a key interest rate by 600 basis points to 27.25 percent in hopes of easing the country's acute foreign exchange shortage and securing billions of dollars in new loans from the International Monetary Fund.

At present, the Egyptian pound has joined the "club of five global currency collapses", the main reasons for the collapse are much the same: hyperinflation, high debt, extreme shortage of foreign exchange.

Exhibition

The China Fair closed with an intended order amount of US $2.21 billion.

The four-day 32nd East China Import and Export Commodities Fair closed in Shanghai on March 4. This year's China Fair attracted more than 40000 buyers from home and abroad, from more than 110 countries and regions, a significant increase over the previous one. Among them, the number of national buyers for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" increased by 43.9 compared with the previous one; the number of Japanese buyers increased by 76.7 compared with the previous one; and the number of buyers in Europe and the United States increased by 67.3 compared with the previous one. The amount of intention orders realized during the extension period reached 2.21 billion US dollars, which continued to grow compared with the previous session.