China's foreign trade in first 8 months demonstrates vitality: commerce official

China's foreign trade has seen steady progress over the first eight months of the year, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality, an official of the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

Xiao Lu, deputy director of the ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, made the remarks at a press conference on trade and opening up.

A total of 630,000 companies registered actual import and export performances in China from January to August, marking a year-on-year increase of 8.8 percent, according to the data released by the General Administration of Customs.

Data showed the international market for Chinese businesses is becoming more diverse in the eight months. Trade with the European Union and the United States grew by 1.1 percent and 4.4 percent respectively. Meanwhile, trade with emerging markets accounted for 64.6 percent of China's overall trade.

Specifically, trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged by 10 percent to 4.5 trillion yuan, making up 15.7 percent of China's total trade and solidifying ASEAN's position as China's largest trading partner.

China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has maintained vibrant growth, with the trade volume up 7 percent to about 13.48 trillion yuan (about 1.89 trillion dollars) in the first eight months of this year.

"The technology and brand value of exported products are steadily rising, and the market for green and low-carbon products is vast. New energy vehicles produced in China have been exported to more than 170 countries and regions. Cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, with more than 120,000 operating entities, and the product categories and service functions of cross-border e-commerce platforms are also being further expanded," Xiao said.

The official said that China is to release more dividends from its opening up, to bring broader market opportunities to trading partners and jointly promote the prosperity and development of global trade.

China's foreign trade in first 8 months demonstrates vitality: commerce official

China's foreign trade in first 8 months demonstrates vitality: commerce official

The leader of the Taiwan region Lai Ching-te has been deliberately trumpeting his secessionist rhetoric in order to push forward his sinister intentions of increasing hostility and confrontation across the Taiwan Strait and advancing his own political interests, according to scholars in Taiwan.

Lai continued to peddle his so-called "two-state" rhetoric by claiming the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are "not subordinate" to each other in a provocative "Double Ten" (October 10) speech on Thursday, where he again put forth his "Taiwan independence" fallacies.

Lai's remarks demonstrated his unwavering "Taiwan independence" stance, along with his confrontational mindset and were another example of his continuous provocations, according to Cheng You-ping, a professor from Taipei University.

"He uses such arguments to, firstly, stealthily shift the responsibility for peace onto the mainland. Secondly, he seeks to deliberately create the impression of an 'equal' status between the mainland and Taiwan region, as part of his new 'two states' theory discourse. This is his rhetoric style, which may seem unproblematic when people listen to them at the first time. Especially if the general public in Taiwan region do not realize the sinister intentions of Lai Ching-te, they may easily fall into his trap. We can say that his true intention of his conspiracy is to create a nation-to-nation relationship," said Cheng in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).

Kao Yuang-kuang, a part-time professor at Chengchi University in Taipei added that Lai's remarks are designed to shore up support ahead of local leadership and legislature elections, rather than to safeguard stability on the Taiwan Strait and ensure people's welfare.

"He makes selective statements to strengthen his power. It is clear that Lai's focus is on solidifying his support base, planning for the regional elections in 2026, and secure his re-election in 2028," said Kao.

Lai Ching-te's confrontational cross-Strait remarks made to boost own political interests: scholars