Foreign trade of China's pilot FTZs up 2.2% in first quarter

Foreign trade of China's pilot free-trade zones (FTZs) reached 2 trillion yuan (about $416.26 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 2.2 per cent year-on-year, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said in Beijing.

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Speaking at a press conference, He Yongqian, the spokesperson, said that amid the current complex and severe international situation, the development of the country’s pilot FTZs has demonstrated remarkable resilience.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), the Ministry of Commerce will continue to advance the strategy to enhance free trade zones and improve the quality of their development.

“Benchmarking against high-standard rules such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), we will carry out broader, deeper and more vigorous institutional opening-up trials in developing service trade and facilitating cross-border data flows among other areas,” she added.

Meanwhile the 90-day tariff truce agreed by the United States and China during trade talks in Switzerland last weekend is too short, China’s state-backed Global Times said on Friday, as envoys from the world's two biggest economies regrouped in Korea.

During the Geneva summit, the US agreed to cut the extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports last month to 30 per cent from 145 per cent for the next three months, while China committed to cutting duties on US imports to 10 per cent from 125 per cent.