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The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" reviewed and approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly stated "deepening foreign trade system reform" and proposed a number of arrangements such as "actively responding to the trend of digitalization and greening of trade", providing important guidance for cultivating new advantages and new momentum for foreign trade and accelerating the construction of a trading power.

In the view of the interviewed companies and experts, green trade has added strong momentum for companies to better expand overseas, and has also contributed China's wisdom and strength to the world's sustainable development.

Going Green to Help Enterprises Expand Markets

"In recent years, the concepts of 'green' and 'low-carbon' development have been deeply rooted in people's hearts and have become a 'compulsory course' for foreign trade companies going overseas." Yu Jiangang, head of Shaoxing Xinye Foreign Trade Co., Ltd., proudly told the International Business Daily reporter, "Due to the innovative use of green and recyclable raw materials in the production process, the company's clothing products are very popular in overseas markets and have won the trust of many European and American customers."

According to reports, Xinye is a company specializing in the production and operation of clothing, mainly engaged in all kinds of men's and women's export clothing and domestic brand fashion. Thanks to its beautiful and novel design style and green and environmentally friendly materials, the company's clothing products have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions, with more than 100 overseas customers.

Not only the clothing industry, which is closely related to consumers' lives, but also the chemical industry, which is traditionally considered to be highly polluting, has now embarked on the path of green development. Bai Donglin, manager of Shaanxi Coal Chemical International Trade Co., Ltd., told the International Business Daily that in recent years, the company has launched a series of fertilizer products using coal as raw materials. After a series of green and environmentally friendly production processes, they not only do not pollute the environment, but also effectively improve soil quality and increase crop yields.

"'Green' has always been the underlying color of our high-quality development." Bai Donglin introduced that as a state-owned enterprise ranked among the world's top 500, Shaanxi Coal Group actively cultivates and develops new quality productivity, always adheres to the concept of green development, and strives to create environmentally friendly products. While practicing the concept of environmental protection, it continuously improves the quality of green trade products and has achieved remarkable results.

The green development process of the above two companies is a microcosm of China's foreign trade moving towards "green". From 2013 to 2022, China's green trade scale will grow by an average annual rate of 3.18%, and its share in the world will increase by 2.3 percentage points. Among them, companies represented by the "new three" products of electric passenger cars, solar cells, and lithium-ion batteries have accelerated the development of a green trade path that reaches the world. Statistics show that 4 out of every 10 cars exported by China are electric cars, 7 out of every 10 rail locomotives are electric locomotives, and nearly 90% of the exported batteries are lithium batteries.

While China's green product supply further meets the needs of global consumers, it also contributes to the global response to climate change. Taking new energy vehicles as an example, according to the International Energy Agency, by 2030, global electric vehicle sales will reach about 45 million, equivalent to three times the global sales in 2023 and five times China's production. The global market's demand for consumption upgrades and green development will drive the continued popularity of green products such as new energy vehicles.

Policies lead the way, measures are implemented

China attaches great importance to the development of green trade, and relevant arrangements for the development of green trade can be seen in many policy documents issued in recent years. In November 2019, the "Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting High-quality Development of Trade" proposed to promote the coordinated development of trade and the environment. In February 2021, the "Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Establishment and Improvement of a Green, Low-carbon, Circular Development Economic System" proposed to establish a green trade system, emphasizing the active optimization of the trade structure and vigorously developing high-quality, high-value-added green product trade. The "14th Five-Year Plan for High-quality Development of Foreign Trade" lists "building a green trade system" as one of the ten key tasks, and proposes four measures: establishing a green and low-carbon trade standard and certification system, building a green trade development platform, creating a good policy environment for green trade development, and solidly carrying out green and low-carbon trade cooperation. This year's government work report has made a series of arrangements around "promoting the quality and quantity of foreign trade to stabilize", and expanding new growth points such as green trade has been mentioned again.

In order to better achieve the goal of green trade development, the Ministry of Commerce has also taken a series of practical actions. At the "Promoting High-quality Development" series of themed press conferences held by the State Council Information Office recently, the head of the Ministry of Commerce's Foreign Trade Department said that the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Knowledge Handbook on Green and Low-carbon Transformation of Foreign Trade Enterprises" in the first half of the year, and will continue to compile and publish it in the future. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce has also held special counseling and training, and is accelerating the construction of a green trade public service platform, which will provide diversified public services for foreign trade enterprises. In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will study and introduce special policies for green trade development, gradually establish and improve a green trade support and guarantee system, create a good international environment, and enhance the green and low-carbon development capabilities of foreign trade enterprises.

"As a new highlight of China's foreign trade development in recent years, green trade has injected new impetus into China's foreign trade development. China attaches great importance to green transformation and continues to promote the rapid development of low-carbon green technologies and industries, which has become an important driving force for China's foreign trade transformation and high-quality growth." Yang Jun, director of the Digital Economy Laboratory of the University of International Business and Economics, told the International Business Daily reporter that in order to better safeguard the development of green trade, we should promote the global consensus on green development and international policies to promote green trade in the future, so as to help Chinese green products better enter the international market.

■ Our reporter Hong Jianru