Our reporter Ouyang Jie
In the first three quarters, my country's import and export of goods trade reached 39.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. Among them, exports were 23.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.4%; imports were 16.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.3%.
"Since the beginning of this year, the high-quality development of foreign trade and the construction of a strong trading nation have continued to advance, with imports and exports growing rapidly and both quantity and quality improving." At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on October 14, Wang Jun, spokesman and deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said that my country's imports and exports continued to grow rapidly, with increases of 15.3%, 18.3%, and 22.3% in the first, second, and third quarters respectively. From a monthly perspective, double-digit growth has been maintained for six consecutive months. In September, import and export reached 5.16 trillion yuan, exceeding 5 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 27.5%.
Quarterly and monthly foreign trade growth shows an accelerating trend
Wang Jun summarized the characteristics of my country's foreign trade development in the first three quarters of this year with the four words "fast, new, high-quality, and good".
Growth rate is fast. The growth rate of foreign trade in the first three quarters was the fastest in the same period in the past five years, and the quarterly and monthly growth rates generally showed an accelerating trend.
New development momentum. In the first three quarters, the total import and export of industrial robots, electronic components, computer parts, electrical equipment and other products exceeded 10 trillion yuan, an increase of 58.9%, driving overall import and export growth by 11.3 percentage points. The influence of the "Made in China" brand continues to increase. The export growth rate of independent brands reached 26.7%, accounting for 24.8% of exports, and the proportion increased by two percentage points compared with the same period last year.
The trade structure is excellent. The structure of cross-border logistics channels has been further optimized. In the first three quarters, the proportion of road imports and exports increased by 3.4 percentage points; with the expansion of trade in high-tech products, high value-added products, and fresh agricultural and food products, air imports and exports increased by 37.2%.
Open quality and efficiency are good. In the first three quarters, my country's imports and exports to more than 120 countries and regions achieved two-way growth. Economic and trade cooperation with countries co-building the “Belt and Road” has continued to deepen, with imports and exports to related countries reaching 20.37 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%; imports and exports to other APEC economies reached 24.07 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.9%.
"There are still many factors that are unstable and unpredictable in the current international environment. At the same time, the world economy is still resilient. my country has the advantageous support of a very large market and a complete industrial system. The 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." Wang Jun introduced.
Since March, import growth has exceeded 20% for 7 consecutive months
In the first three quarters, my country's import growth rate was 5.9 percentage points higher than that of exports, and imports to more than 110 countries and regions grew faster than exports. Since March, the import growth rate has exceeded 20% for seven consecutive months, and the import scale exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the first time in September.
"The rapid growth of imports is mainly due to the stable operation of my country's economy and the continued release of ultra-large-scale market effects." Wang Jun analyzed the reasons for the growth of imports.
Advanced manufacturing continues to develop and grow, with strong demand for various intermediate products such as key parts and components. In the first three quarters, imported storage components increased by 1.5 times, integrated circuits increased by 56.6%, and aircraft parts increased by 17.6%.
Consumption demand has shifted from "have it" to "is it good or not", and Chinese residents' demand for imported "good things" from various countries has expanded. In the first three quarters, imports of Malaysian fresh durian increased by 3.3 times, Italian olive oil increased by 28.6%, and French perfume increased by 28.5%.
Improvements in production activities have also provided stable support for the import of upstream raw materials. In the first three quarters, the import volume of iron, aluminum, nickel and other metal ores exceeded 1.2 billion tons, and the import volume of oil and gas exceeded 400 million tons.
"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." Wang Jun said that on May 1 this year, after my country fully implemented zero tariffs for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations, the number of countries that have implemented zero tariffs has reached 63. In the first three quarters, my country imported 867.53 billion yuan from the above-mentioned countries, an increase of 15.3%.
Foreign-funded enterprises are participants and beneficiaries of "China Opportunities 2.0". In the first three quarters, the import and export of foreign-funded enterprises reached 11.69 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19%, and the scale reached a record high for the same period in history.
"China is not only the 'world's factory' but also the 'world's market', an open and shared market," Wang Jun said.
Export scale exceeded 8 trillion yuan for the first time in the third quarter
In the first three quarters, exports of goods trade reached 23.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.4%. Among them, the export scale in the third quarter exceeded 8 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 22%.
"Exports maintain a good growth momentum, mainly due to the complete industrial chain system in my country, the continuous development and growth of advanced manufacturing industries, and the ability to accurately, quickly and effectively respond to global production and consumption needs." Wang Jun introduced.
On the production side, my country's ship exports exceeded 350 billion yuan in the first three quarters, an increase of 24.6%, and 300,000-ton oil tankers, large liquefied petroleum gas ships, and liquefied natural gas ships have all doubled. The industrial robot industry has accelerated digital intelligence empowerment, with exports of nearly 10 billion yuan, an increase of 16.9%, assisting the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industries of trading partners. On the consumer side, my country's exports of digital cameras increased by 40.5% in the first three quarters.
The investment boom in artificial intelligence continues, and the demand for computing power and power equipment increases accordingly. In terms of computing power, in the first three quarters, my country's exports of integrated circuits increased by 99.1%, computer parts increased by 2.1 times, and storage components such as solid-state drives increased by 1.3 times, ensuring a stable supply of intermediate products in the global computing power industry chain. In terms of electricity, my country's exports of photovoltaic products, wind turbines and their parts increased by 10.3% and 22.4% respectively, continuing to fill the global clean energy supply gap; exports of wires and cables, and transformers increased by 28.1% and 22.5% respectively; exports of various types of storage batteries increased by 34.8%, and are exported to more than 200 countries and regions.
"From high-speed optical communication modules to artificial intelligence computing power server cabinets, from wires to ultra-high voltage converter transformers, from power banks to industrial and commercial energy storage equipment, from single small batteries to container-type integrated energy storage systems, Chinese companies are providing Chinese products, Chinese experience and Chinese solutions for global computing power construction, stable operation of power grids, and safe power supply." Wang Jun said.
