The growth rate of foreign trade in the first three quarters was the fastest in the same period in the past five years. What new drivers support the "acceleration" of my country's foreign trade?

The State Council Information Office held a press conference yesterday (14th), and the General Administration of Customs announced that in the first three quarters of this year, my country's import and export of goods trade was 39.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%, the fastest growth rate in the same period in the past five years.

This dazzling foreign trade report card is not far away from our lives. It is written on the freighters that shuttle through the port, hidden in the production lines running in the workshops, and placed among the dazzling shelves of supermarkets.

A few days ago, a cargo ship completed loading and unloading operations in the Qianwan Port area of ​​Qingdao Port, Shandong Port. More than 4,000 TEUs of machinery and equipment, home appliances, cotton textile products and other goods on board will soon be sent to the Port of Long Beach and other core ports on the West Coast of the United States.

Port staff member Yuan Zhen said that since September, more than 60 container liners on the US-West and US-East routes have docked at Qingdao Port. The export goods are mainly mechanical and electrical products, metal products and other industrial products, building a solid sea channel for northern manufacturing industries to go overseas.

Yuan Zhen: Relying on the mature US-Eastern and US-West ocean trunk lines, we continue to ensure the supply of space, optimize the ship berthing process, continuously improve the efficiency of loading and unloading operations, and fully assist the efficient flow of foreign trade goods.

The busy port directly demonstrates the strong vitality of my country's foreign trade. According to customs statistics, my country's import and export grew by 15.3% in the first quarter of this year, 18.3% in the second quarter, and further increased to 22.3% in the third quarter. From a monthly perspective, double-digit growth has been maintained for six consecutive months. Imports and exports in September were 5.16 trillion yuan, exceeding 5 trillion yuan for the first time. In addition, Wang Jun, spokesperson and deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, also emphasized that in the first three quarters of this year, my country's trade with more than 180 countries and regions around the world has achieved growth, and market diversification has been consolidated and expanded.

Wang Jun: Imports and exports to free trade partners reached 19.55 trillion yuan, an increase of 30%, contributing more than 70% of the increase in foreign trade. Imports and exports to other APEC economies amounted to 24.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 23.9%. During the same period, imports and exports to ASEAN increased by 22.7%; imports and exports to the EU increased by 8.4%; trade with the United States continued to rebound, with imports and exports increasing by 4.1%.

At a heater manufacturer in Xinpu Town, Cixi City, Zhejiang Province, 11 production lines are in full swing, and more than 260 workers are working hard to produce an energy-saving silent heater.

Ren Gaojie, deputy general manager of the company, told reporters that the customers for these products are from Germany. The order of more than 500,000 heaters they signed in the first half of this year has been shipped, but in August, German customers placed additional orders.

Gao Jie: The current return volume of a (German) supermarket is 120,000 units, and each item is more than 20 containers. One of the silent models has more than 20 containers, so the number of orders returned by German supermarkets is still very obvious. In other European countries, France and Spain also have orders returned one after another.

Similar situations also exist in other heater export companies. At a heater manufacturer in Zhouxiang Town, Cixi City, the workshop is also busy. Workers are producing an electric heating oil heater to be sent to Spain.

Wang Yumei, manager of the company's foreign trade department, said that this batch of 10,000 oil tins was just ordered by the customer at the end of August and will be shipped in early October.

Wang Yumei: There are probably more than 300,000 oil tin orders on hand now, and the delivery pressure is still relatively high. Our factory basically needs to produce at full capacity.

The continuous flow of overseas orders in the workshop is a vivid reflection of the steady increase in my country's export scale. In the first three quarters of this year, my country's exports of goods trade reached 23.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.4%. In the third quarter, the export scale exceeded 8 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 22%. Wang Jun said that driving my country's exports to maintain rapid growth is mainly due to my country's complete industrial chain system and the continuous development and growth of advanced manufacturing industries, which can accurately, quickly and effectively respond to global production and consumption needs and provide high-quality and stable supply. In addition, Wang Jun also emphasized that my country's export momentum continues to improve and improve.

Wang Jun: In the first three quarters, my country's equipment manufacturing industry played a prominent leading role, contributing nearly 90% of the export increase. Intermediate products account for more than half of the total export value, effectively playing the role of "stabilizing anchor" in the global production and supply chain. Export products are moving towards smart and green products, with exports of integrated circuits increasing by 99.1%, and green products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, wind turbines and their parts increasing by 72.3%, 36.4% and 22.4% respectively.

It is worth noting that in the first three quarters of this year, my country's import growth rate was 5.9 percentage points faster than exports. What are the main reasons supporting the rapid growth of imports? In this regard, Wang Jun said that this is mainly due to the stable economic operation of our country and the continued release of the market effects of super-large-scale OLA. The continuous expansion of import scale is not only an objective reflection of domestic production and consumption demand, but also fully demonstrates the actual results of my country's orderly expansion of independent opening up and unilateral opening up. China is not only the "world's factory" but also the "world's market", an open and shared market.

Wang Jun: Advanced manufacturing continues to develop and grow, and there is strong demand for various intermediate products such as key parts and components. In the first three quarters, my country's imported storage components increased by 1.5 times, integrated circuits increased by 56.6%, and aircraft parts increased by 17.6%. Improvements in production activities have also provided stable support for the import of upstream raw materials. In the first three quarters, my country's imports of iron, aluminum, nickel and other metal ores exceeded 1.2 billion tons, and oil and gas imports exceeded 400 million tons. At the same time, as the consumption demand of Chinese residents changes from "have it" to "is it good or not", the demand for the import of "good things" from various countries continues to expand. In the first three quarters, my country's imports of fresh durian from Malaysia increased by 3.3 times, salmon from the Faroe Islands increased by 41.4%, Italian olive oil increased by 28.6%, and French perfume increased by 28.5%.

Wang Jun said that overall, in the first three quarters of this year, my country's foreign trade development can be summarized in four words: "fast, new, high-quality, and good." Fast growth means fast growth. The growth rate of foreign trade in the first three quarters was the fastest in the same period in the past five years. my country also continues to maintain its position as the world's largest country in goods trade. What is new is new momentum for development. The influence of the "Made in China" brand continues to increase, and the export growth rate of independent brands reaches 26.7%. What is good is that the trade structure is excellent. In the first three quarters, my country's trading partners are stable and diversified. All types of enterprises advance hand in hand, and foreign trade development is balanced and coordinated. The good thing is that it is open and has good quality and efficiency. In the first three quarters, my country's imports and exports to more than 120 countries and regions achieved two-way growth, and free trade dividends continued to be released, benefiting all parties.

Wang Jun: Regarding the foreign trade trend throughout the year, we believe that the current international environment is still unstable and unpredictable, and foreign trade development still faces many challenges. At the same time, the world economy is still resilient, my country is supported by the advantages of a large-scale market and a complete industrial system, and existing and incremental policies are synergistically effective. my country's foreign trade still has the foundation and conditions for stable growth in the next stage.