According to customs statistics, China's import and export value last year was 41.76 trillion yuan, up 0.2 percent year-on-year. Of this total, the export was 23.77 trillion yuan, up by 0.6%; Imports were 17.99 trillion yuan, down 0.3%. Specific analysis, mainly has the following six aspects of characteristics:

First, the operation of foreign trade is generally stable, and the trend of good in the fourth quarter is obvious. The scale of import and export increased quarter by quarter, and the quarter is stronger than the quarter by quarter. In the first quarter, it was 9.69 trillion yuan, and in the second, third and fourth quarters, it was more than 10 trillion yuan. In the fourth quarter, another month was stronger than another month, with year-on-year growth of 0.8%, 1.3% and 2.8%, reaching 3.81 trillion yuan in December, which is a record high monthly scale.

Second, the vitality of business entities is sufficient, and the main role of private enterprises is enhanced. In 2023, the number of foreign trade operators with import and export records in China exceeded 600,000 for the first time. Among them, 556,000 private enterprises, with a total import and export of 22.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.3%, accounting for 53.5% of the total import and export value, an increase of 3.1 percentage points. During the same period, the import and export volume of foreign-invested enterprises was 12.61 trillion yuan, accounting for 30.2%; State-owned enterprises accounted for 16 percent of the total, or 6.68 trillion yuan.

Third, diversified trading partners have made joint progress, and the proportion of the "Belt and Road" has increased. In 2023, China's imports and exports to countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" will reach 19.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.8%, accounting for 46.6% of the total import and export value, an increase of 1.2 percentage points. China's imports and exports to Latin America and Africa reached 3.44 trillion yuan and 1.98 trillion yuan, up 6.8% and 7.1%, respectively. In the fourth quarter, imports and exports to the European Union and the United States rebounded, and imports and exports in the year were 5.51 trillion and 4.67 trillion yuan, accounting for 13.2% and 11.2% respectively.

Fourth, the competitive advantage of products is stable, and the export momentum is rich and active. In 2023, China's export of mechanical and electrical products 13.92 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.9%, accounting for 58.6% of the total export value; In the same period, the export of labor-intensive products was 4.11 trillion yuan, accounting for 17.3% of the total export value. Among mechanical and electrical products, electric manned vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells, these three we call the "new three", the "new three" products total exports of 1.06 trillion yuan, breaking through the trillion yuan mark for the first time, an increase of 29.9%. Exports of ships and household appliances rose 35.4 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively. Export momentum reflects the move from made in China to created in China.

Fifth, domestic demand continued to recover, and imports of large and livelihood commodities expanded in an orderly manner. In 2023, China's energy, metal ore, grain and other bulk commodity imports increased by 15.3%. Of this total, 1.158 billion tons of energy products such as crude oil, natural gas and coal were imported, an increase of 27.2 percent. Iron, aluminum and other metal ore of 1.458 billion tons, an increase of 7.6%. During the same period, the import of agricultural products reached 1.64 trillion yuan, up by 5%; Imports of textiles, clothing, shoes and hats increased by 5.6%, while imports of jewelry and watches increased by 63% and 17.2%, respectively.

Sixth, high-level opening up has made steady progress, and new platforms and new forms of business have developed well. In 2023, the number of pilot free trade zones in China has been expanded to 22, with a total import and export of 7.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7 percent, accounting for 18.4 percent of the total import and export value. The construction of Hainan Free Trade Port has been further advanced, and annual imports and exports have maintained double-digit growth for three consecutive years. Preliminary statistics show that China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports will reach 2.38 trillion yuan in 2023, an increase of 15.6%.

In general, last year, China's foreign trade experienced a baptism of wind and rain, and achieved hard-won achievements such as stable import and export scale, and excellent development quality. When I first saw these newly released data, I was full of emotion. I was proud of the resilience of China's economic development, moved and respected the Chinese foreign trade people, and more importantly, I had confidence and confidence in the future development.

Looking ahead to 2024, the complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment are on the rise, and we need to overcome some difficulties and make more efforts to further promote the steady growth of foreign trade. But at the same time, it is more important to see that the trend of China's economic recovery and long-term improvement has not changed, and the factors supporting high-quality development are still gathering and increasing. We believe that with the gradual emergence of policy effects and the steady progress of high-level opening up, China's trade development will accelerate the cultivation of new drivers, foreign trade and foreign investment will continue to consolidate the basic, import and export growth, improve quality, and increase efficiency will further consolidate the foundation.