STORY: China's foreign trade maintains momentum with fresh shifts
SHOOTING TIME: Recent and file footage
DATELINE: July 26, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:30
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China
2. various of China's foreign trade
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PENN SOVICHEAT, Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and spokesperson
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, Secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
5. various of China
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MARKUS ELSAESSER, Founder and CEO of the German Solar Promotion GmbH

STORYLINE:

China's foreign trade volume reached a new high in the first half of this year, showing strong resilience and a steady upward momentum despite the challenging external environment.

Latest data from China's General Administration of Customs show that China's trade volume expanded 6.1 percent year on year to 21.17 trillion yuan (about 2.97 trillion USD) in the January-June period, with exports rising 6.9 percent and imports climbing 5.2 percent.

It is the first time in the same period in history that the country's foreign trade exceeded 21 trillion yuan.

China's strong manufacturing capabilities, along with its burgeoning consumer market, technological advancements and favorable trade policies, have been providing its trade partners with vast opportunities and boosting the global economic recovery.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PENN SOVICHEAT, Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and spokesperson
"The steady economic progress and significant potential in trade and investment of China are undoubtedly major positive news for the current global economy."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, Secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
"We need more trade. We need open trade. The support of China for technical cooperation to helping countries get them. Countries need a lot of support in digitalization, in trade facilitation, in understanding how they can participate in a more meaningful way in the international economy."

While sustaining a steady growth, China's foreign trade has undergone fresh shifts, bringing new opportunities and trade drivers.

Electric vehicles, solar batteries and lithium-ion batteries, categorized as China's tech-intensive and green "new three," reported a combined export value of 1.06 trillion yuan (150 billion dollars) in 2023, jumping 29.9 percent year on year.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MARKUS ELSAESSER, Founder and CEO of the German Solar Promotion GmbH
"China is leading the market in terms of the production of solar cells and modules, but also in the battery sector. China is the number one supplier, and therefore, we have seen a contribution to the decarbonization of Germany and Europe, and the whole world from Chinese companies and Chinese products. Because we need those products. We need solar panels. We need batteries. And we need electric vehicles, and more to make the transformation to a cleaner energy supply and a cleaner future, and China has made a big contribution to this."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)