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BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council (the Cabinet) urged local authorities to intensify efforts to stabilize exports and imports, which both declined in the first seven months of the year.
Trade facilitation measures adopted by the country's free trade zones should be duplicated, standards at different customs areas must be unified, and examination procedures should be simplified, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday.
Financial institutions should enhance credit support to companies that have received export orders, help them control exchange rate risks, and expand the coverage of export credit insurance, the statement said.
Local authorities must clear management fees at ports and for shipping businesses, it said.
The country should give full consideration to the role of investment in promoting foreign trade and raise the capability of central and western regions to receive trade projects, according to the statement.
Foreign trade in the first seven months of the year was 3 percent lower than a year before, with exports down 1.6 percent and imports down 4.8 percent, the General Administration of Customs said earlier this month.
