China unveils guidelines to stabilize trade

(Global Times, Beijing, 12 January 2022) China's cabinet, on Tuesday called for efforts to ensure domestic supplies of commodities, as part of guidelines to stabilize exports and imports as a countercyclical buffer against uncertainty clouding the trade landscape. Presently, the country's exports and imports are facing increased uncertainty, instability and imbalance, and the fundamentals of its trade operations remain unsound, the State Council said in an announcement on Tuesday while releasing a slew of countercyclical measures to prop up micro, small and medium-sized trade businesses. Among the measures that are intended to secure orders, stabilize expectations and foster stable trade are efforts to coordinate and ensure stable commodity imports, revise and improve the list of retail imports via cross-border e-commerce, and broaden the import categories to better meet diversified consumption needs. On top of that, the guidelines proposed an acceleration of export tax rebates and the improvement of export credit insurance services to better protect smaller trade firms against the cancellation of orders before shipments.