Measures to promote foreign trade; More speculation about Trump 2.0 and China; Zhejiang cracks down on official extortion of businesses
Summary of today’s top items:
1. New measures from Ministry of Commerce to help foreign trade - The Ministry of Commerce issued the “Several Policy Measures to Promote Stable Growth in Foreign Trade”. According to the Global Times “nine measures were specified to boost foreign trade, involving support and guidance in insurance, financing, settlement, expanding scope on imports and exports, optimization of trade structure, visa facilitation and transportation”. It is hard to not see this as in part driven by expectations of more tariffs in the Trump Administration. The section about expanding exports of distinctive agricultural products and other commodities includes this line: “Guide and assist enterprises in actively responding to unreasonable foreign trade restriction measures, and create a favorable external environment for exports. 指导和帮助企业积极应对国外不合理贸易限制措施，为出口营造良好外部环境。”
2. More speculation about Trump and China policy - Perhaps the biggest variable about the next administration’s tra…