Official: trade surplus continues to decline this year

The imports discount policy will continue, the trade surplus will continue to decline this year, and this will lay a good foundation for the economy, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian said on Aug. 17.

Yao said China's trade surplus will continue to decline this year. With the implementation of energy conservation and environmental protection policies and the income increase of Chinese residents, imports of some brands of goods will continue to increase.

Taking into account that China as a manufacturing base will not change in short term, imports of raw materials and industrial equipment is to continue. Imports from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will remain strong and all these provide an important guarantee that China will see strong imports.

Yao also said that the import discount policy has always been a part of the import promotion policies implemented by the Ministry of Commerce. It mainly provides subsidies on introduction of energy saving, environmental protection and new technologies, and this policy is still effective.

When asked about the possibility of reducing export tax rebate of some products in the short term, Yao said the export promotion policy is in line with macroeconomic policies, including energy conservation policy. Although enterprises deserve to have export tax rebates, they should work within the framework of macroeconomic policies like energy saving, emission reduction and economic restructuring.

Data released by General Administration of Customs shows that China's July imports grew 22.7 percent, which is 34.1 percent below last month's value. With more than expected growth in exports, while import growth slowed down, China's trade surplus in July witnessed a record high of 28.7 billion U.S. dollars, which is the highest since January 2009.

By Huang Beibei, People's Daily Online