China Vows to Help Firms Export More Despite Growing Backlash

China will attempt to boost exports further, with Beijing promising to support its firms to increase shipments despite a rising global backlash over an influx of cheap Chinese goods.

Beijing will provide financial and diplomatic help for exporting companies, said Wang Shouwen, the Chinese international trade representative and a vice minister of commerce. The government will also direct Chinese shipping firms to boost cargo capacity and bolster e-commerce, he said at a Friday press conference in Beijing.

Those promises come despite growing pushback against the nation’s surging exports, with total shipment value on track to rise to the highest ever this year.

The new policies are aimed at promoting the development of “high-quality” trade and helping companies solve practical problems in areas such as trade financing, insurance and shipping, Wang said. In addition, the policies seek to address rising protectionism, he said, without offering detail.

The export boom is making China’s international goods trade increasingly unbalanced. The surplus this year is nearing a record while import growth has flat-lined due to the struggling domestic economy. Weak Chinese demand has pushed the world’s second-largest economy into deflation, which is reflected in the falling price of exports since May 2023.

While some consumers overseas welcome the cheaper Chinese goods, more and more companies and governments fault China for undercutting their own prices and revenues. A number of nations have raised tariffs on Chinese steel, electric vehicles and other goods, and US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened high levies on all Chinese products.

Beijing has begun to take small steps to rein in the export boom, with the government last week cancelling tax rebates for some industrial goods that had encouraged firms to ship overseas. However, that move has roiled the aluminum industry, which is heavily dependent on supply from China.