BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) – China's total import and export of goods in the first four months of this year increased by 5.7% year-on-year in RMB terms, exceeding the 5% recorded in the first quarter. This was revealed in official data on Thursday.
According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), the country's exports increased by 4.9% year-on-year in the January-April period, while imports increased by 6.8%.
From January to April, the country's external merchandise trade reached 13.81 trillion yuan (US$1.95 trillion). Exports reached 7.81 trillion yuan, and imports reached 6 trillion yuan.
In April alone, foreign trade surged 8% to 3.64 trillion yuan, after contracting the previous month, indicating improvement in domestic and international demand.
Lyu Daliang, head of GAC's Department of Statistics and Analysis, said the growth rate of imports and exports in the first four months accelerated compared to the first quarter, and the scale was the highest ever for the same period.
He said China's trade with emerging markets continued to improve in April, while trade with traditional markets such as Europe and the United States turned from a decline to an increase.
He added that rapid expansion in exports of ships, electric vehicles, construction machinery and sporting goods drove export growth in the first four months.
By trade type, processing trade turned from negative to positive in the first four months, increasing by 0.8% year-on-year. In the first four months, general trade volume reached 8.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year, accounting for 65.1% of the total. Bonded warehouse trade increased by 14.9% from the previous year to 1.92 trillion yuan.
In terms of trading entities, China's foreign trade by private enterprises increased by 10.7% year-on-year in the first four months. This amount accounted for 54.6% of China's total foreign trade, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the previous year.
China's trade volume with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 6.4% to 6.54 trillion yuan in the first four months, accounting for 47.4% of China's total trade volume.
Of this, the amount of trade with ASEAN, China's largest trading partner, increased by 8.5% from the previous year to 2.18 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.8% of China's total trade.
Trade with the European Union fell by 1.8%, while trade with the US and South Korea increased by 1.1% and 5.5%, respectively, in the first four months.
In the first four months, trade with Latin America rose 11.7% year-on-year, trade with Africa rose 7.7% and trade with five Central Asian countries surged 17.9%.
Structurally, China's export portfolio shows strength in the areas of ships, electric vehicles, and construction machinery, with growth rates of 108.4%, 28.3%, and 16.2%, respectively.
Mr. Liu said that since the beginning of the year, more positive factors have appeared in China's foreign trade, and the positive growth momentum of foreign trade is solidifying.
China has set its economic growth rate at around 5% this year, a target that government officials and experts say is unlikely given the country's combination of sound economic fundamentals and supportive macroeconomic policies. I believe that it is fully achievable. ■
