General

In April, Nanchang is full of flowers and vitality. In response to the warmly blooming flowers, the Fushan factory of Jiangling Group has been bustling with activity for several days. With the support of digital technology, cars are quickly assembled and transported non-stop to Xiangtang International Land Port in Nanchang, Jiangxi. After packing and packing, they are transported to ports in Shanghai, Ningbo, and other places before taking cargo ships to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, the company's vehicle sales have been continuously increasing since the beginning of this year. From January to March, Jiangling Group sold 83000 complete vehicles, with a revenue of 23.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%. Among them, the cumulative export of finished vehicles reached 23900 units, a year-on-year increase of 96.6%.

Behind the growth of overseas sales performance is Jiangling Motors' persistent focus on the international market. Just after the Spring Festival this year, a group of overseas market representatives from Jiangling Import and Export Company went overseas to explore the market. With their arrival, the first batch of 91 JMC brand light trucks, pickup trucks, and Jingma brand buses successfully landed in Jordan, and the first batch of 76 JMC pickup trucks will also be launched in the Mali market at the same time. At the same time, key markets such as Chile, Vietnam, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico are also constantly receiving orders.

Not long ago, at the launch ceremony of Jiangling's entire vehicle export railway sea intermodal transportation exceeding 70000 vehicles, Qiu Tiangao, Party Secretary and Chairman of Jiangling Group, stated that Jiangling Group is fully deploying and promoting overseas strategies, continuing to deeply cultivate traditional key markets, and also vigorously exploring new markets in more than ten countries such as South Korea and Germany.

On the same day, Qiu Tiangao introduced to everyone present the Jiangling Group's "three-year doubling plan" for automobile exports: "Jiangling Group aims to achieve 86500 automobile exports this year and 150000 automobile exports by 2025, promoting more Nanchang manufacturing to go global and helping Chinese brands sell well worldwide

Since the beginning of this year, China's automobile exports seem to be ushering in a brand new spring. According to the latest statistical data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to March 2023, domestic enterprises exported 994000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 70.6%. Among them, the export of passenger cars reached 826000 units, a year-on-year increase of 82.9%. Export of 168000 commercial vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 28.1%. Export of 248000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 times, according to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

Based solely on data from March, domestic enterprises exported 364000 vehicles that month, a month on month increase of 10.6% and a year-on-year increase of 1.1 times. Among them, passenger car exports reached 304000 units, a month on month increase of 12.3% and a year-on-year increase of 1.5 times. The export of commercial vehicles reached 59000 units, an increase of 2.6% month on month and 19.8% year-on-year. Export of 78000 new energy vehicles, a decrease of 10.3% month on month and a year-on-year increase of 3.9 times, according to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

The strong growth of new energy vehicle exports has also driven the overall increase in both quantity and price of China's automobile exports. According to statistical data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to March 2023, the cumulative export value of Chinese automobiles (including chassis) increased by 96.6% year-on-year. Affected by this, China's export growth rate of mechanical and electrical products has turned negative to positive. From January to March, the cumulative export value of China's mechanical and electrical products increased by 7.6% year-on-year.

In fact, the growth of China's foreign trade is far more than just reflected in the automotive industry. According to the latest statistical data released by the General Administration of Customs, from January to March 2023, China's export performance of new advantageous products was very impressive. The export of electric passenger cars, lithium batteries, and solar cells' new three types' products increased by 66.9%, with a year-on-year increase of over 100 billion yuan, which increased the overall export growth rate by 2 percentage points.

In addition, the statistical data released by the General Administration of Customs also shows that China's exports increased by 14.8% year-on-year (in US dollars, the same below) in March this year, an increase of 21.6 percentage points compared to the previous two months. Imports decreased by 1.4% year-on-year, a decrease of 8.8 percentage points compared to the previous two months.

Wang Jing, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, believes that the overall growth rate of China's exports in March far exceeded market expectations, with the release of early order backlog, backflow of labor-intensive product export orders, and strong competitiveness of new advantageous products being the main reasons.

According to her introduction, in March 2023, the export growth rate of major foreign trade countries in the world continued to decline, with South Korea's exports declining by 13.6% year-on-year, marking six consecutive months of negative growth; Vietnam's exports decreased by 14.8% year-on-year, with three consecutive months of negative growth. In contrast, despite a high base in 2022, China's exports still achieved counter trend growth, and the growth rate far exceeded market expectations.

Since 2023, the interference of the epidemic on the supply chain of China's industrial chain has diminished, and foreign trade enterprises have shown a clear effect in rushing to grab orders at sea, gradually increasing export orders. The new export order index in February was 52.4%, which climbed above the boom and bust line for the first time since May 2021. This may have laid the foundation for a significant increase in export growth rate in March. At the same time, due to factors such as weak investment and debt crisis in the real estate industry caused by the anti-corruption movement, the Vietnamese industrial chain has remained stable Sex raises external concerns Wang Jing believes that Vietnam's exports continued to weaken from January to March 2023. Some international orders for clothing, shoes, and other products may flow into China, driving the growth rate of China's labor-intensive product exports from negative to positive. In March, the export of labor-intensive products in China increased by 21.2%, with luggage, shoes, and clothing increasing by 90.1%, 32.3%, and 31.9%, respectively, an increase of 86.8%, 43.9%, and 46.4 percentage points compared to January to February.

At present, the differentiation trend of China's export growth rate towards major trading partners has narrowed. China's export growth to ASEAN is relatively fast, supporting the overall increase in China's export growth rate. However, she also reminded that there is still uncertainty in the current international market demand and should maintain a cautious and optimistic attitude towards the future trend of exports. The external environment is severe and complex, with developed economies still facing significant inflationary pressure and weak economic growth. Despite China's export growth exceeding expectations in March, there is still uncertainty in the international market demand trend, and China's export growth may still face certain pressures in the future. In order to achieve the goal of promoting stability and quality of foreign trade throughout the year and continue to play a supportive role of exports in the economy, policy combinations need to be more precise and effective

At the executive meeting of the State Council held on April 7th, it was proposed to study policy measures to promote stable scale and optimal structure of foreign trade. In the future, stable foreign trade policies will mainly help enterprises expand international markets and reduce operating costs. Wang Jing believes that while stabilizing exports to developed economies, enterprises should be guided to deeply explore developing country markets and regional markets such as ASEAN. In addition, it is necessary to reduce the operating costs of foreign trade enterprises and enhance their ability to resist risks by reducing taxes and fees, strengthening financial support, and other means. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Developed economies such as the United States and the European Union still face economic recession risks, and the destocking cycle has not yet ended. It is expected that China's exports to them will continue to decline in the short term. The recovery trend of ASEAN economies is relatively strong, coupled with the implementation of regional cooperation agreements such as RCEP and the continuous release of policy dividends, the rapid growth of exports to them can to some extent support the overall growth rate of China's exports.