Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, said today that according to customs statistics, foreign trade import and export in the first half of the year was better than expected. From a monthly perspective, exports have achieved positive growth for three consecutive months since April. In June, imports and exports increased by 5.1% year-on-year, of which exports increased by 4.3% and imports increased by 6.2%.
Data map: Import and export containers. Photo by China News Service reporter Yang Bo
The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the 14th, at which Li Kuiwen introduced the import and export situation in the first half of 2020. He pointed out that since the beginning of this year, our country has coordinated the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, done a solid job in the “six stability” work, fully implemented the “six guarantees” task, and foreign trade import and export were better than expected.
According to customs statistics, in the first half of this year, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 14.24 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.2%, and the decline was 1.7 percentage points narrower than the previous five months. . Among them, exports were 7.71 trillion yuan, down 3%; imports were 6.53 trillion yuan, down 3.3%. Specifically, my country’s foreign trade import and export in the first half of this year mainly had the following seven characteristics:
First, foreign trade import and export in the first half of the year was better than expected. Both exports and imports achieved positive growth in June. From a quarterly perspective, after experiencing shocks in the first quarter, imports and exports stabilized in the second quarter. In the second quarter of this year, my country’s foreign trade imports and exports were 7.67 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.2%, and the decline was 6.3 percentage points narrower than that in the first quarter. From a monthly perspective, exports have achieved positive growth for three consecutive months since April. In June, imports and exports increased by 5.1% year-on-year, of which exports increased by 4.3% and imports increased by 6.2%.
Second, the import and export of private enterprises have grown against the trend, and their role in the steady growth of foreign trade has become more prominent. In the first half of the year, private enterprises, as the largest foreign trade business entity, imported and exported 6.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%, accounting for 45.1% of my country’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 3.5 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 4.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.2%, accounting for 53.7% of the total export value; imports were 2.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.1%, accounting for 34.9% of the total import value. During the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 5.55 trillion yuan, accounting for 39%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 2.22 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.6%.
Third, imports and exports to ASEAN continue to grow, and ASEAN has become my country’s largest trading partner. In the first half of the year, my country’s imports and exports to ASEAN were 2.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6%, accounting for 14.7% of my country’s total foreign trade value; China’s imports and exports to the EU were 1.99 trillion yuan, a decrease of 1.8%; China’s imports and exports to the United States were 1.64 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.6%. %. In addition, my country’s imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” were 4.2 trillion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.9%, and the decline was 2.3 percentage points lower than the overall decline.
Fourthly, the proportion of imports and exports in general trade has increased, and the structure of trade methods has continued to be optimized. In the first half of the year, my country’s general trade import and export reached 8.55 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.6%, accounting for 60.1% of my country’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 4.56 trillion yuan, down 2%; imports were 3.99 trillion yuan, down 3.2%. The import and export of processing trade was 3.36 trillion yuan, down 8%, accounting for 23.6%.
Fifth, the import and export of the central and western regions maintained growth, and the domestic regional layout became more balanced. In the first half of the year, the foreign trade import and export of the eastern region of my country was 11.39 trillion yuan, a decrease of 4.7%, and the import and export of the central and western regions was 2.38 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.7%, accounting for 16.7% of my country’s total foreign trade value, and the proportion increased by 1.4 percentage points.
Sixth, exports of anti-epidemic materials and “stay-at-home economy” products grew rapidly, and the declines in exports of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products were lower than the overall decline. In the first half of the year, exports of textiles, including masks, increased by 32.4%, exports of medical materials and drugs, and medical instruments and equipment increased by 23.6% and 46.4% respectively. Increased consumption in the “stay-at-home economy” drove exports of notebook computers and mobile phones to increase by 9.1% and 0.2% respectively. %. During the same period, my country’s exports of mechanical and electrical products were 4.52 trillion yuan, down 2.3%, accounting for 58.6% of the total export value; exports of seven major categories of labor-intensive products such as textiles and clothing were 1.5 trillion yuan, down 1.4%, accounting for 19.4%.
Seventh, the import and export freight volume increased, and the import volume of major commodities and key agricultural products (8.790, -0.23, -2.55%) increased. In the first half of the year, the import and export freight volume under customs supervision was 2.33 billion tons, an increase of 6.6%. Among them, imports were 1.56 billion tons, an increase of 8.3%. In terms of major commodities, 547 million tons of iron ore were imported, an increase of 9.6%; 269 million tons of crude oil were imported, an increase of 9.9%; 174 million tons of coal were imported, an increase of 12.7%; and 48.359 million tons of natural gas were imported, an increase of 3.3%. During the same period, the import of some agricultural products increased, including 45.044 million tons of soybeans, an increase of 17.9%; 2.123 million tons of pork, an increase of 1.4 times; and 997,000 tons of beef, an increase of 42.9%.
Li Kuiwen said that currently, the world affected by the new coronavirus epidemic is undergoing profound changes. The world economy is in deep recession, international trade and investment have shrunk significantly, and the external environment for my country’s foreign trade development is severe and complex. The customs will strengthen its confidence in development, actively respond to difficulties and challenges, go all out to coordinate port epidemic prevention and control and promote stable growth of foreign trade, further optimize the port business environment, help enterprises explore international markets, strive to stabilize my country’s foreign trade fundamentals, and promote foreign trade. Promote stability and improve quality, and make greater contributions to completing the annual economic and social development goals and tasks. </p
