The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposal, when making arrangements for expanding high-level opening up to the outside world, explicitly states "promoting balanced development of imports and exports". This is not only China's targeted response to the reality of the sustained and rapid growth of the trade surplus, but also sends out a positive signal of promoting the quality and efficiency improvement of foreign trade and strengthening the "sinews and bones" of building a trade power.

Foreign trade has always been one of the "three horses" driving economic growth, while exports and imports are like the two wheels of a vehicle. What is the profound meaning of emphasizing the "dual wheels" advancing in parallel?

In 2024, the total volume of China's goods trade imports and exports exceeded 43 trillion yuan. Among them, the export volume reached 25.45 trillion yuan, maintaining growth for eight consecutive years, while the import volume was 18.39 trillion yuan. The trade surplus of over 7 trillion yuan has drawn widespread attention.

What is a trade surplus? In short, it means that the export volume exceeds the import volume.

A relevant official from the General Administration of Customs stated that China does not pursue a trade surplus. The specific scale of exports and imports as well as the trade balance are the result of a combination of factors such as international supply and demand relations, industrial division of labor, and market competition.

The issue of trade imbalance is a common challenge faced by the world. This is not only due to the objective existence of economic laws, but also closely related to factors such as the comparative advantages of various countries and macroeconomics. Chen Hongna, an associate researcher at the Department of Foreign Economic Research of the Development Research Center of The State Council, said.

Chen Hongna stated that, based on China's own development needs, emphasizing "balanced development of imports and exports" is aimed at driving domestic consumption upgrading and industrial transformation through imports, and sharing development opportunities with trading partners, thereby alleviating the contradiction of trade imbalance and enhancing the initiative in response.

How will the "balanced development of imports and exports" be promoted during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period?

In the view of industry insiders, in the process of promoting high-level opening up to the outside world, we should adhere to the combination of stabilizing exports and expanding imports.

We should strive to turn our product advantages into a solid foundation for enterprises to enhance brand value and bargaining power, and transform the trade surplus into a powerful driving force for national development and improving the well-being of the people. Chen Hongna said.

"Promote market diversification and integration of domestic and foreign trade", "Expand trade in intermediate goods and green trade", "vigorously develop trade in services", "Improve the negative list management system for cross-border trade in services", "Orderly expand opening up in the digital field"...

A series of targeted measures in the planning proposal not only stabilize exports by enhancing the ability to withstand shocks and adapt to rules, but also strengthen the expansion of imports of key high-quality goods and services, providing guarantee and support for achieving "stable exports, expanded imports, and an optimized structure".

With the all-round expansion of domestic demand and the orderly expansion of independent and unilateral opening up, the steps towards becoming a trading power will surely be more solid and powerful.

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