BEIJING: China’s commerce ministry on Thursday announced a series of policy measures aimed at boosting the country’s foreign trade, including pledging to strengthen financing support to firms and expand exports of agricultural products. With US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs in excess of 60 percent on all Chinese goods, which has rattled Chinese manufacturers and accelerated factory relocation to Southeast Asia and other regions, exporters in the world’s second-biggest economy are bracing for any trade disruptions.

Trade has been a rare bright spot in Chinese economy in recent months as tepid domestic demand and a property downturn have dragged on growth. China will encourage financial institutions to provide more products to help firms improve their currency risk management, and to strengthen macro policy coordination to keep the yuan “reasonably stable”, the ministry said in a statement published online.

The country will also expand exports of agricultural products and support imports of core equipment and energy products, the statement said. “(We will) guide and help firms to actively respond to unreasonable trade restrictions by other countries and create a good external environment for exports,” according to the statement. A Reuters poll of economists showed on Thursday that the United States could impose nearly 40 percent tariffs on imports from China early next year, potentially slicing China’s growth by up to 1 percentage point.

In order to facilitate cross-border personnel exchanges, China will support business personnel from key trading partners to come to China, the ministry said. The measures were earlier approved by China’s cabinet on November 8 at a meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang, state media reported. — Reuters