On August 7, the General Administration of Customs released data showing that in the first seven months of this year, the total import and export value of China’s goods trade was 23.6 trillion yuan, up 10.4% year-on-year. Among them, the export was 13.37 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%; Imports reached 10.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.
Since the beginning of this year, in the face of the complicated and ever-changing international environment, China has effectively coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and foreign trade has overcome many adverse effects and achieved rapid growth.
Optimization of foreign trade structure
In the first seven months of this year, the growth rate of China’s foreign trade accelerated, and the quantity and quality rose together, mainly showing the following characteristics-
The import and export of general trade increased and its proportion increased. In the first seven months, China’s general trade import and export was 15.17 trillion yuan, up 14.5%, accounting for 64.3% of China’s total foreign trade, up 2.3 percentage points over the same period last year. China’s import and export by bonded logistics was 2.87 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.3%. Among them, exports were 1.08 trillion yuan, up by 15.6%; Imports reached 1.79 trillion yuan, up 5.9%.
Exports of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products both increased. In the first seven months, China exported 7.57 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 10.1%, accounting for 56.6% of the total export value. Among them, mobile phones were 494.63 billion yuan, an increase of 2%; Automobile was 175.74 billion yuan, up by 54.4%. In the same period, the export of labor-intensive products was 2.41 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.2%, accounting for 18%.
In terms of commodities, the import price of iron ore has fallen, while the import price of crude oil, coal, natural gas and soybeans has dropped. In the first seven months, China imported 627 million tons of iron ore, down by 3.4%, and the average import price was 835.1 yuan per ton, down by 27.8%. In the same period, China imported 290 million tons of crude oil, down 4%, and the average import price was 4,736.1 yuan per ton, up 58.3%.
From the monthly data, in July, China’s total import and export value was 3.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.6%. Among them, exports were 2.25 trillion yuan, an increase of 23.9%; Imports reached 1.56 trillion yuan, up by 7.4%; The trade surplus was 682.69 billion yuan, up by 90.9%.
"The trade surplus reflects that China’s foreign trade has strong competitiveness in the context of the expected decline in global economic growth." Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, told this reporter that a series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade, including tax reduction and fee reduction, inclusive finance and export tax rebate, have helped foreign trade enterprises overcome difficulties, achieved high-quality foreign trade development, stabilized economic growth expectations and boosted confidence.
RCEP dividend appears
From a regional perspective, foreign trade in the Yangtze River Delta region has continued to recover rapidly. In the first seven months, the import and export of three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta region increased by 11.7% year-on-year, 2.5 percentage points faster than that in the first half of the year; In July, it increased by 25.7% year-on-year, contributing more than 50% to the national foreign trade growth.
In terms of major trading partners, in the first seven months, ASEAN, the European Union, the United States and South Korea were China’s top four trading partners, with imports and exports of 3.53 trillion yuan, 3.23 trillion yuan, 2.93 trillion yuan and 1.39 trillion yuan respectively, up by 13.2%, 8.9%, 11.8% and 8.9% respectively. ASEAN continues to be China’s largest trading partner, accounting for 15% of China’s total foreign trade.
Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) came into effect on January 1 this year, dividends have been continuously released. In the first seven months, the import and export of China and other 14 member countries of RCEP increased by 7.5% year-on-year.
Li Kuiwen, director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, said: "In July, China’s import and export to RCEP trading partners was 1.17 trillion yuan, up 18.8% year-on-year, driving the overall import and export growth by 5.6 percentage points. RCEP came into effect this year, further deepening regional economic interconnection and trade and investment cooperation, and providing new kinetic energy for regional economic recovery and development. "
Zhang Jianping suggested that in the future, we should make good use of the advantages of 21 pilot free trade zones and Hainan Free Trade Port, seize the new opportunities brought by RCEP, continuously expand the foreign trade market, and give full play to the role of foreign trade in promoting economic growth.
The proportion of foreign trade of private enterprises has increased.
With a series of policies and measures to help enterprises get rid of difficulties, the vitality of foreign trade market players has been effectively stimulated. Data show that in the first seven months, the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in China was 526,000, an increase of 5.8% year-on-year.
The proportion of foreign trade of private enterprises has increased. In the first seven months, the import and export of private enterprises was 11.8 trillion yuan, up 15.3%, accounting for 50% of China’s total foreign trade, up 2.1 percentage points over the same period last year, and continued to play the role of "main force" in foreign trade. Among them, exports reached 8.01 trillion yuan, up 20.9%, accounting for 59.9% of the total export value; Imports reached 3.79 trillion yuan, up 5%, accounting for 37% of the total import value.
In the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 7.97 trillion yuan, up 2.7%, accounting for 33.8% of China’s total foreign trade. Among them, exports were 4.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.4%; Imports were 3.67 trillion yuan, down 1.4%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 3.8 trillion yuan, up by 15.5%, accounting for 16.1% of China’s total foreign trade. Among them, the export was 1.05 trillion yuan, up by 10%; Imports reached 2.75 trillion yuan, up by 17.8%.
Li Kuiwen said: "The state has introduced a package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy and support enterprises to solve problems. The Customs has also specially studied and introduced seven measures to help enterprises get rid of difficulties and reduce costs, so as to effectively solve practical problems for enterprises. With the effectiveness of these measures, the vitality of foreign trade market players has been effectively stimulated. In the first seven months, the import and export of various foreign trade entities maintained growth, which effectively promoted the stability and quality improvement of China’s foreign trade. "
Looking forward to the next stage, Li Kuiwen said that the fundamentals of China’s strong economic resilience, sufficient potential and long-term improvement have not changed. With the further implementation of the national package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy and the orderly resumption of work and production, China’s foreign trade is still expected to continue to maintain steady growth. (Reporter Xu Peiyu)
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