China to introduce more measures to stabilize foreign trade

China's State Council decided Wednesday to adopt more measures to keep its foreign trade stable.

To stabilize foreign trade, the key is to further expand opening up and focus on enhancing the endogenous power of enterprises through market-oriented reforms and by economic means, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.

China will improve its fiscal and tax policies as the meeting studied how to further lower the country's overall import tariff level, refine export tax rebate policies and speed up the tax rebate process, the statement said.

Li called for efforts to strengthen financial support for foreign trade firms.

China will explore and propose more special types of insurance for foreign trade enterprises, guide financial institutions to increase foreign trade financing support to small and medium-sized enterprises and improve the convenience of RMB settlement, according to the meeting.

The meeting also called for faster development of new industries, including cross-border e-commerce, and enhancing trade facilitation by simplifying import and export documents, cutting customs clearance time and reducing port charges.