Global economy was fulfilled with ups and downs in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic,which added more volatility to international investments and trade. During the time,East Asian economies had done a better job in epidemic control,and thus has achieved faster economic recovery. Among them,China has achieved positive economic growth and steady improvement in its international payments. In 2021,with the development and application of vaccines,the world economy is likely to usher in faster and comprehensive recovery. China is going to face a different external economic environment during the normalization of epidemic prevention and control,and there will be uncertainties in foreign investment and trade. How would these factors affect our balance of payments in 2021? At a roundtable discussion organized by China Forex,Zhang Liqing,Director of International Finance Research Center,Central University of Finance and Economics,Chief Economist of Price Waterhouse Coopers China and Zhang Ming,Deputy Director of Institute of Finance and Banking,Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,Deputy Director of National Institution for Finance and Development,shared their opinions on this topic. The conversation,which follows in edited form,was moderated by Zhong Wei,China Forex deputy editor.

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Zhong Wei: I’d like to welcome our two guests. China’s foreign trade achievements was not a bad one in 2020,and its growth with the “Belt and Road” economies and the neighboring economies in East Asia was particularly eye-catching,which strongly supported the stability of the global supply chain. So,what are your comments on China’s foreign trade performance in the past year? Of course,we know that there are many factors restraining the growth of our foreign trade,such as the rising shipping price,poor container turnover and exchange rate fluctuations. In 2021,manufacturing industry in Western economies may also speed up recovery,while the recovery of service trade would not be optimistic due to continued restriction on cross-border movement of people. In your view,will China’s foreign trade maintain such strong growth in 2021?