China's trade industry will face an even more challenging global environment in the second half of 2020, as the sliding world economy further cuts down demand, protectionism practices continue to escalate and supply chains encounter obstacles, said China's Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.

  China will launch comprehensive measures to stabilize trade entities and supply chains in the country and keep its major trade power position, the minister said.

  The World Trade Organization estimated that global trade will drop by 13 to 32 percent in 2020. In the first half of 2020, despite disruption from coronavirus outbreak and the imposed lockdown, China's trade still outperformed expectations, contributing to both domestic and international economic recovery, according to Zhong.

  Zhong said in the second half of this year, China will increase policy support for the trade industry, offer export tax rebates, provide credit service for export companies and help to sell the products that were originally for export in the domestic market.

  The Chinese government will also support trade companies to optimize their international market, cement the traditional market and explore the new market, deepening the trade cooperation with Belt and Road countries. China will increase its imports to meet domestic demand and boost the global market's confidence at the same time, Zhong said.

  He said China will also continue to develop its e-commerce trade business model and help export companies build an international marketing network and overseas storage facility.

  Source: CGTN