Recently, the general office of the State Council issued the opinions on promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade (hereinafter referred to as the opinions). Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s foreign trade integration has made great progress, and the scale of domestic and foreign trade market has gradually expanded. In 2021, China has become the world’s second largest consumer market and the largest trading country of goods, of which the total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 44 trillion yuan and the total import and export of goods exceeded 39 trillion yuan. However, there are still shortcomings in the integration of domestic and foreign trade. For example, the integrated regulation system is not perfect, the ability to make overall use of two markets and two resources is not strong, and the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade is not smooth enough to fully meet the needs of building a new development pattern. In order to better promote the development of domestic and foreign trade integration, grasp RCEP opportunities and promote the dual cycle development strategy, the Ministry of Commerce, together with 19 departments, studied and drafted the opinions and defined the development goal of domestic and foreign trade integration by 2025: China’s foreign trade laws and regulations, regulatory system, business qualification, quality standards, inspection and quarantine, certification and accreditation are more effective, The development level of the integration of domestic and foreign trade among market players has been further improved, the domestic and foreign connectivity network has been improved, the government management services have been continuously optimized, and the regulation system of the integration of domestic and foreign trade has been improved. The main concerns are as follows:
First, the introduction of the opinions will further consolidate the foundation of China’s trade development. First, promote and improve the system of laws and regulations conducive to the integration of domestic and foreign trade, sort out and promote the revision of laws, regulations, rules and normative documents that hinder the integration of domestic and foreign trade. Second, accelerate the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, give play to the demonstration and leading role of free trade pilot zones and free trade ports, give play to the role of open platforms and industrial clusters such as national economic and technological development zones, comprehensive bonded zones and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and actively explore new models and measures for the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, Promote the docking and integrated development of domestic and foreign trade systems and mechanisms. Third, promote the digital development of domestic and foreign trade, make full use of modern information technology, accelerate Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co.Ltd(300959) integration, promote the connection of production and marketing and the matching of supply and demand, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, cultivate new business forms and new models of domestic and foreign trade, enhance the ability of flexible production and market demand adaptation of enterprises, and promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade industrial chains and supply chains.
Second, the introduction of the opinions will strengthen China’s Global trade service capacity. First, enhance the ability of integrated development of domestic and foreign trade. The opinions supports the integrated operation of domestic and foreign trade within market entities, and encourages qualified large-scale commercial and logistics enterprises to “go global”, strengthen the integrated allocation of resources, optimize the international marketing system and improve the global service network. Support the development of large multinational supply chain service enterprises, improve international competitiveness and enhance the toughness of industrial chain supply chain. Second, build a platform for integrated development of domestic and foreign trade. Improve the level of market procurement and trade facilitation, attract industrial agglomeration with local characteristics, and drive more market players to expand foreign trade business. Promote the interconnection between key commodity trading markets and foreign marketing networks, and cultivate a number of Chinese commodity trading markets whose operation mode is in line with international standards. Third, strengthen the capacity-building of international air cargo, enhance the competitiveness of international shipping, promote the high-quality development of China EU trains, and accelerate the facilitation of international road transportation. Guide foreign trade enterprises, cross-border e-commerce and logistics enterprises to strengthen business coordination and resource integration, accelerate the layout of logistics infrastructure networks such as overseas warehouses and distribution centers, and improve the efficiency of logistics operation and asset utilization.
Third, the introduction of the opinions will provide more financial services for banks. First, by serving domestic and foreign trade enterprises, we should do a good job in inclusive financial business. The opinions encourages financial institutions to increase credit support for domestic and foreign trade in accordance with the principle of marketization, innovate financial products and strengthen financial services by relying on accounts receivable, inventory, warehouse receipts, orders and insurance policies of domestic and foreign trade enterprises. Banks can integrate and innovate cross-border supply chain financial products to meet the financing and settlement service needs of more small and medium-sized domestic and foreign trade enterprises. Second, enhance the development advantages of core enterprises in China’s industrial chain by serving domestic and foreign trade enterprises. The opinions proposed to further expand the coverage of export credit insurance and China’s trade credit insurance. Banks and credit insurance institutions strengthen linkage cooperation to provide support and guarantee for domestic and foreign trade enterprises to explore China’s international market. Through reasonable risk sharing and financing arrangements, they jointly help to build a number of “chain master enterprises” and “invisible champion” enterprises with strong international competitiveness, so as to play a financial supporting role in stabilizing, supplementing and strengthening the chain. Third, continuously improve the service quality and efficiency of domestic and foreign businesses of multinational corporations through the integrated capital pool service of local and foreign currencies. In 2022, China is expected to expand the pilot of domestic and foreign currency integrated capital pool of multinational corporations. With the help of policy advantages, the Chinese trade business of banks can absorb more advanced practices of international practices, standardize the Chinese trade process and the operation of banks in handling domestic trade and financial services, so as to accumulate more experience and cases for domestic regulators to introduce more facilitation service measures.
