General

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on the 9th, China's exports in April reached RMB 2.02 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%. Calculated in US dollars, the growth rate reached 8.5%. On the basis of strong exports in March, the export data in April once again exceeded expectations. The Associated Press stated that despite the weakening of global demand, Chinese exports have shown more "unexpected" strong momentum.

Just a few days ago, the 133rd China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) closed. The total exhibition area, number of offline exhibitors, and cumulative number of visitors at this year's Canton Fair have all reached historical highs. The popularity of the Canton Fair can touch the temperature of China's foreign trade. In the first four months of this year, China's total import and export value of international trade was 13.32 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. Among them, exports increased by 10.6%; Import growth of 0.02%.

The gains of China's foreign trade have not come easily. According to the World Trade Organization's forecast, global trade in goods will only grow by 1% this year, slowing by about 2.5 percentage points compared to last year. Against the backdrop of high global inflation and weak growth in major economies, which strong driving forces have China's foreign trade "dug up"?

From the foreign trade data of April before, it can be seen that China's foreign trade structure has continued to optimize. For example, international trade exports of automobiles have once again become one of the core driving forces for exports. According to data, in 2022, China exported 3.111 million vehicles, surpassing Germany as the second largest automobile exporter. In the first four months of this year, China's export of mechanical and electrical products increased by 10.5%, with an increase of 120.3% in automobiles, especially new energy vehicles that have continuously gained recognition in the international trade market.

From the perspective of market entities, the performance of private foreign trade enterprises is impressive. In the first four months, the import and export growth of private enterprises was 15.8%, higher than the overall growth rate, accounting for 52.9% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 4.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year, and continuing to maintain China's position as the largest body of foreign trade. In addition, China has closer trade relations with emerging markets, and its imports and exports to ASEAN and countries along the the Belt and Road have increased by 13.9% and 16% respectively.

Why can China's foreign trade unexpectedly tap into strong momentum? This is inseparable from the Chinese government's continuous promotion of high-level opening-up and the continuous introduction of measures to stabilize foreign trade. Since the beginning of this year, local governments have launched measures to promote the development of foreign trade, and Chinese enterprises have "formed groups to go abroad" to seize orders. At the end of April, the Chinese government launched a series of policy measures, including promoting the comprehensive recovery of domestic offline exhibitions, organizing direct customer docking between automotive and shipping enterprises, and supporting foreign trade enterprises to expand sales channels through new formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce. These measures have strong pertinence and operability, opening up new development space for foreign trade enterprises.

This lithium battery pack for the Middle East market is our new product launched this year and is very popular, "a person in charge of a solar energy technology company in Guangzhou recently told the media. This highlights another reason why China's foreign trade is steadily improving: enterprises are taking the initiative.

In response to differentiated target markets, many Chinese export enterprises have devoted themselves to research and design, forming unique product advantages. Nowadays, the "new three types" of products such as electric passenger cars, lithium batteries, and solar cells have effectively driven China's international trade exports, all of which are inseparable from the continuous innovation of enterprises. In addition, some enterprises actively explore Southeast Asian markets and other emerging markets in the case of declining orders in Europe and the United States. This resilience also promotes China's foreign trade to move forward steadily.

Nowadays, new opportunities are constantly emerging. On June 2, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) will come into full force for 15 member countries, and the certificate of origin of RCEP is welcomed by more and more enterprises. This will bring more benefits to Chinese foreign trade enterprises' 'going abroad'.

Recently, there have been frequent risks in the banking industry in Europe and America, and the United States and Europe are still further raising interest rates, causing further downward pressure on the global economy. Against this backdrop, China's international trade development still faces significant external pressure. But what should be seen more is that the current demand of China's main trading partners is relatively stable, the export regions and commodity structure are more reasonable, and the vitality of business entities has increased. I believe that with the development of domestic exhibitions, more convenient personnel exchanges, and continuous deepening of trade innovation, China's foreign trade will "tap" more momentum and release stronger signals of China's economic recovery to the world.