China's foreign trade recorded a new high in April, with trade with traditional and new emerging markets such as the EU, the US, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries all showing a growth trajectory, He Yadong, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, said at a press briefing on Thursday.
In April, China's foreign trade hit a record high, which was one of the most prominent features of the April data, according to He. The foreign trade number stood at 3.64 trillion yuan ($560 billion) in April, up 80 billion yuan from March. This represents year-on-year growth of 8 percent. Imports and exports increased by 5.1 percent and 12.2 percent year-on-year, respectively. He said this performance was in line with market expectations.
Meanwhile, China's trade with traditional markets reversed from decline to growth in April, driven by factors like inventory digestion and demand recovery, He said. Exports to the EU and the US jumped 3.3 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Regarding emerging markets, trade with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and BRI partner countries grew by 14.4 percent and 9 percent, respectively, surpassing the overall average.
According to He, from the standpoint of industries, machinery and electrical products were the primary contributors to the overall trade growth, with a 10.4 percent increase in imports and exports, driving a 5.1 percentage point increase in overall trade. Additionally, the global export recovery for electronic information products led to a 20.4 percent rise in integrated circuit imports.
Global trade is continuing the slow recovery trend seen since the fourth quarter of 2023, which has stabilized the confidence of foreign trade enterprises to some extent, according to He. MOFCOM's recent surveys revealed that key foreign trade enterprises have witnessed a consecutive four-month improvement in new orders, with over 80 percent of Canton Fair exhibitors reporting stable or increased order volumes.
He nevertheless took note of certain challenges and headwinds, particularly the unilateralism and protectionism practices by certain countries, which not only elevate costs and risks but also disrupt global industrial and supply chains.
"Facing these uncertainties, China is committed to promoting high-level opening-up and actively cultivating new drivers of foreign trade. At the same time, we will address the difficulties faced by foreign trade enterprises and assist companies in reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and enhancing international competitiveness," said He.
The Biden administration reportedly will announce new tariffs as high as 100 percent on Chinese electric vehicles and additional import taxes on other Chinese goods, including semiconductors, as early as Tuesday. The Biden administration has been justifying this move with hype of "overcapacity" and "unfair competition," allegingthat Chinese new energy product exports threaten US manufacturers.
It seems that US politicians have wokenup after decades of consumerism hangover, during which they cared only aboutconsumption and not for production. Now, they want to rebuild their manufacturing capacity, but the horse has already bolted. The solution would be exactly the opposite of what they are doing, that is, they should rebuild their industrial capacities with the help of - while not suppress Chinese industrial power.
As to the effects on the US economy, green transition is rather expensive and it will be even more expensive without Chinese products.
In the logic of the so-called green transition, which aims to de-carbonize the economy in the shortest time possible in order to mitigate climate change, opposing Chinese exports of new energy products makes no sense. Chinese products, in fact, being more affordable and available "off the shelf," would make the transition cheaper and faster.
Any factor that can reduce such costs, such as Chinese technology and Chinese products, should be welcomed by economists and decision-makers.
Behind the overhyped"overcapacity"narrative, I also see a geopolitical reason and a way to blame China for Washington's failures. The US has decided to hinder China's growth under the baselessassumptions. Some US politicians are afraid of losing the dominant political, financial and technological position in the world.
Does China have an "overcapacity" in green production?
Overcapacity should reflectan imbalance between demand (lower) and supply (larger), but it is often misused. If we look at the global demand for new and clean energy, we have an under-capacity. Especially in Africa some of its 1.4 billion people currently lack access to electricity. Most of them are in Sub-Saharian Africa, in countries which, even if they want to, have neither the financial or the physical means to satisfy that demand.
It is obvious that the technology must be brought in from countries like China and other industrializednations. I do not call that "overcapacity" but rather theexport of capital goods, and Chinese new-energy products are competitive because of economy of scale and innovation.
Another argument often used against Chinese firms is that they do not compete on a "level playing field" with US companies. Chinese firms are often accused of enjoying government subsidies that allow for unfair competition with US firms, which supposedly do not receive subsidies. This is not true.
US producers of solar panels, EVs and other "new energy" products have enjoyed, directly or indirectly (sometimes through electricity prices or purchase bonuses), government subsidies. Or take the case of CO2 certificates, which are one way in which companies such as Tesla are massively subsidized by producers of conventional cars.
The opinion is based on an interview with Claudio Celani, economic editor of news magazine Executive Intelligence Review
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Tuesday that it has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of cypermethrin originating in India, after receiving an application for investigation from a domestic chemical company.
Experts noted that compared with India's unjustifiable oppression of Chinese industries and enterprises in India, the MOFCOM investigation is justified. They urged the Indian side to take a correct view of the competition between the two countries and stop hindering the development of globalization.
According to the announcement, the ministry received an application for an anti-dumping investigation submitted by Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical Industry Co on behalf of China's cypermethrin industry on April 2, under which the applicant requested an anti-dumping investigation into imports of cypermethrin originating in India.
Cypermethrin is mainly used for the production of insecticide formulations, which is widely used in agriculture, healthcare and other fields for the control of pests in cotton, fruit trees, vegetables, tobacco, corn and flowers.
Based on the evidence provided by the applicant and the review results of the MOFCOM, the ministry decided to start an investigation, and the investigation period of the dumping actions is from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
The investigation commenced on Tuesday, and it should normally be concluded by May 7, 2025, with a six-month extension under special circumstances.
Stakeholders should register with the related department of the MOFCOM to participate in the anti-dumping investigation within 20 days from the date of the announcement, said the ministry.
"China's investigation is reasonable. However, India has one of the highest numbers of anti-dumping investigations against Chinese industries of any country, combined with its continuous suppression of Chinese enterprises in the past few years," Liu Zongyi, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
A main reason why India has been suppressing Chinese companies is that the country believes that the trade war with China initiated by the US will become an opportunity for India to develop its own industry, Liu said.
Liu noted that competition between countries in certain economic areas is a very normal phenomenon, and the key is to look at it with a fair and just mindset.
Chinese President Xi Jinping left Budapest on Friday after paying state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban bid farewell to Xi at the airport.
Chinese people believe that letters are as valuable as gold. For thousands of years, letters, across mountains and oceans, have been delivering the writers' sentiments and conveying friendship and expectations.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, has managed to find time to reply to some letters from different sectors of the society and different parts of the world despite his busy work schedule.
Through his letters, Xi has corresponded with international friends from all walks of life on numerous occasions, part of a series of excellent stories of China's international exchanges in the new era. The letters have also added vivid color to the diplomacy between China and other countries.
The Global Times traced and contacted some of the recipients of Xi's letters to hear the inspiring stories behind the letters and their communications with the Chinese president.
In this installment, Serbian steelworkers share with the Global Times their excitement at receiving Xi's reply letter before the Chinese president's visit to Serbia and the story of how close cooperation between the two countries revived the century-old Smederevo steel plant. At around 8 pm on April 30, 2024, when Serbians were ready to embrace the May Day holiday and the Orthodox Easter, Nenad Cvetanovic, head of operations at the hot mill at HBIS Smederevo steel plant, or Hesteel Serbia, got a phone call asking him to stay in the plant because the Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming would "come to share something with us."
"That was amazing," Cvetanovic and his colleagues thought when they got to know what the surprise was - Chinese President Xi Jinping had replied to their letter days before his second state visit to Serbia after eight years.
Cvetanovic first had the idea to write a letter to Xi in February 2024 when he read a media report saying that the Chinese president might be visiting Serbia again. The idea was widely embraced by his colleagues.
In the letter signed by workers from different departments at the steel plant, they expounded on the latest developments at the plant and its important role in the local economy and people's livelihoods, and they thanked Xi for his care and support for the joint venture located in Smederevo, a small city about 60 kilometers southeast of the Serbian capital Belgrade.
In his reply letter dated April 29, Xi recalled his visit to the plant in June 2016 when he deeply felt the workers' support for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Serbia, and their high expectations for a bright future for the steel plant, according to Xinhua News Agency.
It is a great pleasure to learn that the steel plant has turned losses into gains quickly after the investment of a Chinese-funded enterprise, with the jobs of more than 5,000 employees guaranteed, and thousands of families enjoying a peaceful and happy life, Xi said in the letter.
The development of the steel plant could not have been achieved without the dedication and hard work of the workers, who have been working diligently for the quick growth of the steel plant and have written a new chapter for the iron-clad friendship between China and Serbia.
I give you the "thumbs up," Xi said.
The reply letter shows that our efforts are recognized and appreciated and we feel honored and encouraged, Bojan Popovic, head of department of materials management and maintenance at the Hesteel Serbia, told the Global Times.
"It reinforced our belief that the strong bond between China and Serbia is built on the efforts of ordinary workers like us," Popovic said. "We are proud to be part of this partnership and to contribute to the growth and success of our steel plant, and thus, to the development and strengthening of our economic ties." Rebirth of a plant
The steel plant, first established in 1913, has long been a pillar of former Yugoslavia's metal industry, but it encountered difficulties in the 1990s. The plant then entered two decades of struggle of survival and, in 2012, then owner US Steel Corporation sold the plant to the Serbian government, leaving it with more than 5,000 employees and massive liabilities.
The Global Times learned from senior workers of the steel plant that production was frequently halted at that time. The first thing they would do after waking up in the morning was to check whether smoke was rising from the plant's chimney or not. People did not dare to get married or have babies because they feared they would lose their jobs as the factory could close at any moment.
The light of hope arrived in April 2016 when China's Hesteel Group purchased the plant at a price of 46 million euros ($49.55 million), months after China and Serbia signed in November 2015 a memorandum of understanding within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
During President Xi's state visit to Serbia in June 2016, he made a trip to the steel plant and interacted with workers in the dining room, encouraging them to work hard to bring benefits to local residents.
The purchase and Xi's visit greatly boosted the morale of all the workers; smiles returned to their faces and they started to "plan for the future."
The Global Times learned that Chinese executives from Hesteel did a thorough investigation, finding out that the factory possessed quite good industrial bases and could produce some competitive products even with its then outdated equipment; but the implemented cost control was ineffective.
Therefore they enhanced the management of the steel plant, combining Chinese experience with local practices, streamlined the production process, increased workers' salaries, upgraded equipment and expanded recruitment, and made efforts to tackle the pollution problem.
Upholding the principle of localization of corporate culture, personnel, and benefits, the 13-member Chinese executive team and 5,000-strong Serbian managers and workers' body strived in solidarity to revive the plant and raise it to new heights.
Through unremitting efforts by and from both sides, the plant turned losses into profits in just a few months by year-end of 2016, made a record production volume of 1.77 million tons in 2018, marked a best-in-history revenue of 200 million euros in 2021, and the output value reached 1 billion euros in 2022, Song Sihai, executive director of Hesteel Serbia, told the Global Times.
Joint efforts for future
Plant worker Aleksandar Duncevic recalled all the changes brought about by the takeover and the joint efforts by the Chinese buyer and local Serbian staff, which gave Duncevic "a strong sense of certainty and security," and allowed him to "make plans for the future."
Felic Nenad, who was among the crowds to welcome Xi in 2016, described the China-Serbia cooperation as a "light at the end of the tunnel."
"Now we have new production lines, higher output, and cleaner air… It made a big difference for our city and our country," Nenad told the Global Times.
The Global Times learned that after an investment of 300 million euros to enhance energy efficiency and environmental protection in 2022, the company marked a new milestone in 2023 by dropping dust pollution to 34.8 mg/Nm3, the first time in the plant's history and way lower than EU standards.
Cvetanovic was obviously excited when talking about the plant's new gasholder, upgraded furnace, and finishing mill - industry terms that are concrete evidence of Hesteel Serbia's bright future.
Stefan Nesic, head of temper mills, cutting, packaging, and shipping in the cold rolling mill, started to work at Hesteel Serbia in late 2017. But through conversations with colleagues who were there during Xi's visit, he got the impression that "the visit was of great importance for the morale of the entire factory and has kept encouraging the Serbian workers to join hands for an even better future."
Nesic also told the Global Times that he appreciates the company's comprehensive support for employees from steady paychecks and an improved working environment, to future career development, including his own pursuit of doctoral studies in metallurgical engineering at Belgrade University.
"Our expectations for the future are very positive and optimistic, as the factory shows that it cares about process improvement, new investments, environmental protection, and the quality of its personnel," Nesic said, expressing his hope that Hesteel Serbia will be an increasingly competitive entity in the European and international steel markets.
In 2016, factory workers presented a round plate with the silhouette of the steel plant to President Xi as a gift, writing the first chapter of this time-weathered factory's new story featuring China-Serbia cooperation.
Now, the success of Hesteel Serbia is an embodiment of this "ironclad" friendship and continues to tell success stories of the BRI cooperation.
"Future" is a word that appeared frequently in conversations with Smederevo steelworkers, which is in sheer contrast with the uncertainty and insecurity of the past.
The future of the steel plant is being authored by every Serbian and Chinese personnel in pursuit of a better life; the future of China-Serbia relationship is to be determined by numerous Serbian and Chinese people who have made contribution to boost the warm bilateral exchanges and stronger ties in trade, economic cooperation, culture, and beyond.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the young people in the new era to strive to write their youthful chapter of shouldering responsibility for Chinese modernization.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in his messages for Chinese youth ahead of China's Youth Day, which falls on Saturday.
Xi, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, extended festive greetings to young people nationwide in his messages.
AITO Automobile, a Huawei-backed new-energy vehicle brand, said it is actively investigating the incident in collaboration with the local traffic police department after a serious traffic accident took place in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi Province.
The announcement came after a Huawei AITO M7 burst into flames after crashing into a sprinkler truck on a highway on Friday afternoon in the city, killing all three passengers on board, including a 2-year-old boy, according to chinanews.com.cn.
The company is actively cooperating with the local traffic police department to conduct accident investigations, providing all necessary data to reconstruct the cause of the accident, and offering all possible support to the families of those involved, said AITO in a statement released on its WeChat public account on Sunday.
The automaker said the vehicle was traveling at a speed of 115 km/h at the time of the collision. The safety airbags deployed as intended, and the characteristics of the power battery pack operated normally, it said.
The family is reported to have bought the car just three months before the tragedy, and the exact cause of the accident remains under investigation, domestic media outlet 163.com reported.
The investigation results will be released soon by the local traffic management authority, said AITO.
AITO delivered a total of 31,727 cars in March, maintaining its top position among new emerging automotive brands for the third consecutive month, according to data released by AITO in April.
The "Intelligent Hand – Golden Phoenix · Yishu 8 Sino-French Craft Exchange Program" announced this year's winner on Saturday. Hua Yong, a handicraft artist who graduated from the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, was named the winner of this year's award among the 19 shortlisted artists.
With wood as its theme, the program aims to explore new contemporary expressions of this ancient craft. Minister Counsellor for Culture, Education and Scientific Affairs of the French Embassy in China Nicolas Pillerel and other guests were present for the ceremony.
In addition to a prize of 20,000 yuan ($2,900), Hua will also have a two-month residency and a solo exhibition at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris as well as an exhibition at the Art 8 Beijing Art House.
Hua said she felt honored to receive the award. She said she looked forward to seeing traditional Chinese craftsmanship “bursting into new life in Sino-French exchanges. I hope that craftsmanship, as a borderless language, can transform the crystallization of ancient Eastern wisdom into contemporary life through design."
This event was part of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, showcasing the creative achievements of Chinese and French artists, and paying tribute to the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Police have been called in to campuses to arrest demonstrators in several US universities as student protests over the Palestine-Israel conflict have widened in recent days. Chinese experts said the intensifying protests are likely to put the Biden administration in deep quagmire as they reflect US society's boiling anger over the administration's Middle East policies.
Moreover, the young people's dismay will deal a heavy blow to Biden's reelectionas the incumbent president relies heavily on their support, observers said.
Protests have been bubbling for months, but kicked into a higher gear after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were camped out on Columbia University's upper Manhattan campus were arrested last week, AP reported.
Columbia University officials warned Tuesday (US time) that the ongoing encampment is in violation of university rules and university officials have met with student organizers to discuss the situation, according to CNN.
A Chinese student studying at Columbia University told the Global Times on Wednesday that the protest organizer is asking people to re-join the protest, despite some arrests. Some students are holding signs saying "empathy for all," and students from the history department offer a QR code directed to the history of Palestine-Israel conflict.
"In Columbia University, and basically all I hear is sympathy for the people in Gaza. Supporting Palestine is almost a political correctness at Columbia, the only difference is the degree of support. I hardly ever hear anyone actively supporting Israel," said the Chinese student, who requested anonymity.
The protests are still expanding with a number of encampments now in place at universities including Columbia, Yale, and New York University. Police have been called in to several campuses to arrest demonstrators, according to Reuters.
Overall, public fury over the US government's support for Israel and its policy in the entire Middle East is boiling over. The widening student protests will have an impact on government policies, Lü Xiang, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday. He said the Biden administration is mired in a dilemma as continuing to support Israel's actions in Gaza will definitely lead to more bloody scenes that will shock the public.
"The ongoing student protests is reminiscent of the massive anti-war movement against US involvement in the Vietnam War, although the current scale is not yet comparable," Lü said.
Chinese experts also said that the growing protests could deal a heavy blow to Biden's reelection, as the incumbent US president relies heavily on young voters. If the demonstration activities worsen, and lead to violence, or even evolve into student protests against the US government, it will greatly impact Biden's reelection, said experts.
According to the Harvard Youth poll conducted in March, Biden is losing support among young voters, as his handling of the Palestine-Israel conflict and other issues have spurred dissatisfaction among the group. The poll found that more young Americans think Israel's actions are unjustified, rather than justified.
Biden is facing a dilemma where he cannot afford to lose voters while also needing to continue supporting Israel. Both balancing efforts have proved to be difficult, Lü noted.
Experts said as the US presidential election looms closer, front pages in the US media are dominated by the university protests and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's trial. These incidents indicate that the US society will be further torn apart and will become more divided before and after the election.
China on Friday markedly sharpened its criticism of the US' accusation of overcapacity in China, saying that the claim, while sounding like an economic concept, is a disguise for its malign attempt to curb China's industrial development and amounts to economic coercion and bullying, and urged Washington to be prudent in words and deeds and refrain from imposing additional tariffs.
The latest remarks from Chinese officials underscored their intensifying efforts to counter some US and European officials' attempt to create a pretext for taking further protectionist and punitive actions against Chinese products and firms, while also calling for global cooperation and dialogue to tackle global issues such as production capacity, experts noted.
Notably, Chinese top leaders have also commented on the production capacity issue over the past week.
On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing. During the meeting, Xi said it is important for the two countries to stay vigilant against the rise of protectionism, adopt an objective and dialectical view on the issue of production capacity through a market and global perspective and based on the laws of economics, and devote more efforts to discussions on cooperation, according to Xinhua.
Also on Tuesday, during talks with Scholz, Chinese Premier Li Qiang offered a detailed response to claims of overcapacity. Li stressed that the issue of production capacity should start from economic laws and be viewed objectively and dialectically from a market viewpoint and a global perspective, Xinhua reported.
China's new-energy industry has gained advantages through self-improvement and sufficient market competition, rather than government subsidies, Li said. He expressed hopes that the EU side will uphold market-oriented and fair principles, and prudently use trade remedy measures.
The remarks clearly demonstrate China's approach of addressing global challenges through cooperation, rather than politicization of economic and trade issues and protectionism, experts said.
"The remarks are aimed at urging all parties to tackle global challenges through cooperation, instead of looking at some issues from one's own self-interests," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.
But as US officials continued to hype "overcapacity" claims and even threatened to impose tariffs and other actions against Chinese products, Chinese officials also ramped up their pushback against the accusations. This week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who focused on the overcapacity accusations during her trip last week, even threatened that the US wouldn't take "anything off the table," including additional tariffs on cheap goods from China.
Commenting on the US' accusation of overcapacity at a regular press briefing in Beijing, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said that such claims are not new, as the US has long accused China of overcapacity due to its exports of a large amount of high-quality, affordable products to the world.
"The so-called overcapacity claim raised by the US seems to be an economic concept, but behind it is a vicious attempt to curb and suppress China's industrial development. It aims to seek a more favorable competitive position and market advantage for itself. It is blatant economic coercion and bullying," Lin said.
Also on Friday, Lin responded to US President Joe Biden's calls for substantially higher tariffs against Chinese steel products during a speech in the US steel production base of Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Biden also accused China of offering subsidies to expand steel production capacity, which harms US businesses.
In response, Lin said that the claims made by the US side are completely untrue and could harm China-US economic and trade relations. "China is seriously concerned and strongly dissatisfied with this," he said, "China will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its rights and interests."
Dangerous narrative
The intensifying pushback from Chinese officials against the accusations both reflected their respect for market laws, as well as efforts to safeguard not only China's interests but the stability of the world economy, Zhou said. "If the US continues to mislead the public on this issue, it will be very detrimental to global economic and trade cooperation and recovery," he said.
US officials' accusation of overcapacity has been harshly criticized by economists both in China and abroad as being in defiance of economic laws.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the groundless allegation of "overcapacity" by some US politicians defied economic rules, and was aimed at providing a cover for US companies with backward capacity, such as those that make internal combustion engine cars.
"Taking electric cars as an example, the current global capacity cannot meet the surging demand of the global transformation for new energy, and there is about 70-80 percent room for growth in the sector," said Lü.
According to estimates by the International Energy Agency, global demand for new energy vehicles is projected to reach 45 million units by 2030, 4.5 times the figure from 2022. Similarly, global demand for newly installed photovoltaic capacity is expected to reach 820 gigawatts by 2030, approximately four times the 2022 level, according to media reports. For solar panels, the demand for newly installed capacity will likely quadruple. These figures mean the current level of production capacity for new-energy products lags far behind demand.
This highlights significant potential demand for new energy products in many developing countries, experts said.
The overcapacity accusation also puzzled some Western economists. Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at Washington DC-based think tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua last week that the concept of excess capacity is "potentially harmful."
Lardy noted that there is no way of measuring overcapacity, and the US' suggestion that no country should produce more of a product than could be sold domestically does not make sense.
"So Boeing should cut its production? US soybean farmers should limit their production to what can be sold within the US? The US appears to have a comparative advantage in these products so why shouldn't Boeing and US farmers produce more than can be absorbed domestically, with the 'excess' exported?" he said.
