Vice premier stresses stable foreign trade growth

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan has urged more efforts to ensure stable growth in foreign trade while accelerating transformation of its development pattern.

Wang made the remarks during a three-day inspection tour, which ended Sunday, to the country's southeastern cities of Shaoxing and Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

During a discussion with representatives from the country's seven eastern provinces and municipalities, including Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shandong, Wang called for every effort to be made to meet this year's import and export growth target.

The government has targeted an annual rise of around 10 percent in foreign trade this year, much lower than the 22.5-percent increase registered in 2011.

Local authorities should maintain the stability and continuity of export policies and ensure their implementation, including export tax rebates and trade financing, according to Wang.

The government should also increase credit insurance support to large equipment export and solve practical difficulties for key industries and medium and small enterprises, he urged.

Improvements should be made to boost trade facilitation and remove unreasonable charges to create a better environment for foreign trade development, said Wang.

Wang also stressed expansion of imports as an important measure to transform the development pattern of foreign trade and strive for trade balance.

The vice premier called for optimization in import structure by countries and regions and expansion of imports of high-tech equipment, key components, energy raw materials and consumer goods.

Government authorities should work to better understand real market conditions to serve the development of enterprises and the local economy, said Wang.

Regulators should also increase efforts to fight against intellectual property rights infringement and counterfeit goods, to ensure the quality and safety of import and export goods, he added.