(The Chinese version shall prevail.)

Speech at the State Council Information Office Press Conference

January 13,2025

Mr. Wang Lingjun, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)

Friends from the media,

Good morning! Thank you for your long-term care and support for the work of Customs.

In 2024, the total value of China’s imports and exports reached RMB43.85 trillion, up 5% year-on-year, which was a new record high.

In 2024, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China made remarkable achievements in foreign trade testified by the increase of the total value and its growth and the improved quality. The total value of foreign trade amounted to RMB43.85 trillion with twice trillion-level increase in the past year. China remains the world’s largest trader in goods. China has become a major trading partner for over 150+ economies, and its circle of friends of foreign trade continues to expand. The growth of trade of China in the previous year reached RMB2.1 trillion, equivalent to the annual volume of trade of a medium-sized country. By now, the growth rate of foreign trade (3.8% denominated in USD) is relatively high to the world major economies. In terms of the quality of trade, the structure of imported and exported products has been optimized and upgraded. The trade of high-tech products has good growth momentum, exports of products with self-owned brand have reached a new high, and new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce have flourished.

The results did not come easily. In 2024, the volume steadily increased and the quality of foreign trade raised. To achieve this, the fundamental guarantee is the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. The Party Central Committee launched a raft of incremental policies in a timely manner after fully assessing the situation and took multiple measures to stabilize foreign trade and promote growth. This was also attributed to the joint efforts of all localities and government departments around the country, and hard work of numerous economic operators.

Customs serves not only a witness and recorder of China’s foreign trade development, but also a participant and promoter. In 2024, China Customs supervised 5.603 billion tons of imported and exported goods, 39.917 million freight vehicles, trains, ships and airplanes. Amid the vast flows of people and goods, we remain steadfast in fulfilling our fundamental duty of safeguarding borders. By leveraging modern supervision systems based on smart customs, we stopped epidemics, and illegal and substandard goods at the border, thus protecting national security and the interests of the people, and serving high-quality development.

We always pursue high-quality development as our top priority in the new era. To this end, we introduced and implemented 16 measures to further optimize the business environment at ports and facilitate customs clearance for enterprises. We also unveiled 131 measures to advance coordinated regional development strategies including full revitalization of northeast China, accelerating rise of the central regions, and further advancing the large-scale development of the western region, giving full play to the role of policy mix. Special cross-border trade facilitation initiatives were launched in 20 cities, aiming to foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. We have deepened innovation in Customs supervision systems, providing robust support for the innovative development of platforms such as the Hainan Free Trade Port and pilot free trade zones, leveraging high-standard opening-up to drive high-quality development.

Looking ahead, we will act on the guidelines of the Central Economic Work Conference, pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and promoting stability through progress with a pragmatic and proactive approach. Through the development of “Smart Customs” Project and “Smart Customs for Great China” Campaign, we will deepen reform, strengthen supervision to ensure security, implement concrete measures to stabilize trade, and promote opening-up to higher standards. By doing so, we are committed to protecting the borders, promoting development, and performing the duties as the border guardians whose work satisfies the Party and the people.

That is my brief introduction. Next, my colleagues and I will answer questions from the media.