Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao attends a press conference of the Information Service of the State Council in Beijing, China, February 24, 2021. REUTERS / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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BEIJING, March 1 – A senior Chinese official warned on Tuesday that China’s economy faces many challenges at home and abroad this year, including “huge” pressures from uncertainty over world trade and still weak domestic consumption. .
Foreign trade, which helped move the world’s second-largest economy last year, will face uncertain external demand and a high statistical base from 2021, Trade Minister Wang Wentao said.
“This year the pressure on foreign trade will be huge and the situation will be very difficult,” Wang told a news conference.
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Labor shortages and high raw material costs have also increased pressure on China’s small and medium-sized companies’ ability to process orders abroad, he said.
Given global uncertainty, China must “do everything possible” this year to boost domestic consumption, Wang said.
Last year, China’s economy recovered from its best growth in a decade, fueled by stable exports and the resulting record trade surplus. But there have been signs that momentum is slowing in terms of declining consumption and declining domestic assets.
In December, retail sales rose 1.7% from a year earlier, lacking an average forecast of 3.7% and slowing compared to a profit of 3.9% in November.
Some recovery momentum was seen in consumption in February after downward pressure from the fourth quarter, Wang said.
Stability in all aspects of society is the slogan in China this year, when the Communist Party meets once every five years in Congress at the end of 2022. President Xi Jinping is expected to demand his third term as party leader.
China will seek to expand access to its markets and attract more foreign investment to the country’s industrial sector, including advanced manufacturing and strategic new industries, Wang said.
Foreign direct investment doubled in January-February, he said.
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Report from the Beijing editorial office; Edited by Christian Schmollinger and Kenneth Maxwell
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