According to China’s vice minister of commerce, the country faces increasing difficulties in the worldwide trade of services as COVID-19 outbreaks limit mobility and weakening external demand affects businesses’ operating outlooks.
Local COVID- According to Reuters, Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping stated during a news conference that 19 outbreaks have impeded cross-border movement, harming travel, construction, and exhibits.
“Some services trade enterprises are facing challenges such as insufficient orders and rising costs, and their business expectations are unstable,” Sheng said ahead of the upcoming China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). “In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises, which have relatively weak abilities to ward off risks, are facing greater pressure to survive.”
Amid a sluggish global economic recovery, he said China’s services trade faces risks of declining external demand.
The world’s second-biggest economy narrowly avoided contraction in the June quarter as widespread COVID lockdowns and a property crisis took a heavy toll on consumer and business confidence. The People’s Bank of China on Monday cut its benchmark lending rates to revive the fragile recovery.
According to Sheng, China would quicken the process of reopening and encourage the use of a “no-go” list for international service commerce.
According to data by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the country’s services trade deficit reached $7.9 billion in June, the biggest since December 2021.
The government-sponsored CIFTIS takes place in Beijing from August 31 to September 5.
