Improving structure key

The latest trade figures from the General Administration of Customs show that exports grew by 8.5 percent year-on-year in April — surprisingly strong despite weakening global demand. Export volume grew to $295.4 billion, though at a slower pace compared with that of March.

Ma remains optimistic and noted that more efforts should be focused on improving China's trade structure, a point that is also underscored in the document.

"Despite the strong year-on-year growth delivered in April, growth in foreign trade has been moderate since 2021," he said. "The April growth rate was mainly underpinned by positive short-term factors such as the low base effect over the same period last year, the release of pent-up orders and the lagging impact of inflation in advanced economies. Yet these factors are only temporary and their effect will be difficult to sustain."

He said that currently, there are several major issues with China's trade structure that need to be addressed.

First, trade growth in goods and services has been uneven, with the latter being weaker. Specifically, China still lacks an advantage in digital and artificial intelligence products that come with high value-added services, he said.

Second, domestic traders aren't fully capitalizing on the export advantages of high-end equipment and high-tech products, and the urgency of boosting brand building for these two kinds of goods remains acute.

Most importantly, Ma warned that China's participation in the global value chain is mainly concentrated in mid-processing and manufacturing. This minimizes the proportion of added value and makes Chinese products more prone to substitution by goods made in other countries.

The April guideline noted that exporting innovative products will help improve the quality and value of China's exports. Experts specifically cited new energy vehicles as an example.

In the first three months of this year, China exported 1.07 million vehicles, a 58.3 percent increase on the same period last year, while the value of shipments increased 96.6 percent to 147.5 billion yuan ($21.5 billion), according to data freshly released by the General Administration of Customs.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that going forward, facilitating the exports of NEVs further will require greater communication between NEV enterprises and local governments.

"For example, the government should make policy adjustments in light of specific conditions in localities, make more effort to improve the efficacy of border logistics, and facilitate the exports of NEV components," he said.