General

Under multiple pressures, China's foreign trade has once again demonstrated "resilience". According to customs data released by the General Administration of Customs on the 13th, the total import and export value of China's goods trade in the first quarter of 2023 was 9.89 trillion yuan, with a cumulative growth rate of 4.8% instead of a slight decrease of 0.8% in the first two months. The monthly growth rate decreased by 7% year-on-year in January, rapidly increased by 8% in February, and then increased to 15.5% in March. The import and export of foreign trade started steadily and improved month by month.

According to customs data, when looking at imports and exports separately, exports amounted to 5.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year; Import reached 4.24 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.2%. Lu Daliang, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, stated that overall, China's foreign trade imports and exports showed strong resilience in the first quarter, with a stable and positive start, laying the foundation for achieving stability and quality improvement in foreign trade throughout the year.

According to customs data, in terms of trading partners, ASEAN continued to maintain its position as China's largest trading partner in the first quarter, with a total import and export value of 1.56 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%, accounting for 15.8% of China's total foreign trade value. In addition, China's imports and exports to the European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are 1.34 trillion yuan, 1.11 trillion yuan, 546.41 billion yuan, and 528.46 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 35.6% of the total import and export value.

From the perspective of foreign trade operators, the quantity has steadily increased. In the first quarter, the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in China was 457000, an increase of 5.9% year-on-year. Among them, the import and export of private enterprises increased by 14.4%, accounting for 52.4% of China's total foreign trade value.

According to customs data, in terms of trade methods, in the first quarter, China's general trade imports and exports increased by 7.9% year-on-year, accounting for 65.3% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year; The import and export of processing trade amounted to 1.79 trillion yuan, accounting for 18.1% of the total import and export value.

Customs data also shows that new drivers of foreign trade are constantly being cultivated and strengthened. In the first quarter, the total export of China's "new three types" of electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells increased by 66.9%, with a year-on-year increase of over 100 billion yuan, driving up the overall export growth rate by 2 percentage points. In terms of trade diversification, China's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" increased by 16.8%, accounting for 34.6% of the total import and export value, an increase of 3.5 percentage points; Import and export to other RCEP member countries increased by 7.3%.

Lv Daliang stated that the main constraint factor facing China's foreign trade development currently is the weakening of external demand, while risks such as protectionism and geopolitics further increase the instability, uncertainty, and unpredictability of the global economy. Despite the severe and complex external situation, comprehensive analysis shows that China's economy has strong resilience, great potential, and abundant vitality, and the fundamentals of long-term improvement remain unchanged. I believe that with the continuous overall improvement of China's economic operation, the positive trend of foreign trade is expected to continue further, "he said.