China’s foreign trade grew by 0.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of the year to reach 23.55 trillion yuan ($3.28 trillion), official data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Tuesday.
From January to July, China’s exports increased 1.5 percent year-on-year in yuan-denominated terms to 13.47 trillion yuan, while imports declined 1.1 percent year-on-year to 10.08 trillion yuan.
In the first seven months, The ASEAN remains China’s largest trade partner, with bilateral trade up by 2.8 percent year-on-year to reach 3.59 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.3 percent of the country’s total.
China’s trade with the EU, its second-largest trade partner, declined by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 3.22 trillion yuan, according to the GAC data.
The US remained China’s third largest trading partner during the above-mentioned period, though their trade plunged 9.6 percent year-on-year to 2.64 trillion yuan – indicating the US government’s reckless trade and technology war is dragging the heels of their commerce.
Over the period, China’s total import and export volume with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative jumped by 7.4 percent year-on-year to reach 8.06 trillion yuan.
The proportion of general trade from January to July increased, as the figure stood at 15.41 trillion yuan, recording a year-on-year increase of 2.1 percent. Meanwhile, the trade of Chinese domestic enterprises maintained growing momentum with private enterprises’ foreign trade increasing 6.7 percent to 12.46 trillion yuan and state-owned enterprises’ trade growing 0.8 percent to 3.82 trillion yuan.
China’s foreign trade in July reached 3.46 trillion yuan, down 8.3 percent year-on-year. The exports dropped 9.2 percent year-on-year to 2.02 trillion yuan due to declining overseas demand, while the imports decreased 6.9 percent year-on-year to 1.44 trillion yuan.
On Friday, several Chinese government agencies and the nation’s central bank vowed to take more targeted policy measures to accelerate the economy. For instance, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, said that the follow-up policies will cover six aspects including improving the business environment and stabilizing foreign trade.
In the second half of 2023, China will take multiple measures to keep the nation’s foreign trade and investment stable, according to a key meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on July 24.
The meeting called for supporting pilot free trade zones and free trade ports that are eligible in aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and trying out more reforms and opening-up measures, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
(Global Times)
