General

On May 9th, the General Administration of Customs released import and export data for the first four months of this year: in the first four months of this year, China's total import and export value was 13.32 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. According to import and export data, exports reached 7.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.6%; Import reached 5.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.02%; The trade surplus reached 2.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 56.7%.

According to import and export data, in April, China's imports and exports reached 3.43 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9%. According to import and export data, exports reached 2.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.8%; Import reached 1.41 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.8%; The trade surplus was 618.44 billion yuan, an increase of 96.5%.

The import and export data in April performed very well, showing a trend of exceeding expectations. In the context of weak external demand, China's ability to achieve such good results can be said to have overcome many difficulties and withstood enormous pressure, which is a hard won good result. "Wang Xiaosong, a researcher at the National Development and Strategic Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told reporters.

Entering 2023, the global economic and trade situation has become extremely severe, and downward pressure has significantly increased. Faced with the complex and severe external situation, in the first quarter, China's foreign trade imports and exports withstood multiple unexpected factors and demonstrated good adaptability. The 8.9% growth rate in April was a good start for the second quarter.

Wang Xiaosong's analysis suggests that the highlight of the April data is not only the rapid growth rate, but also the continuous optimization of the structure. Specifically, it is reflected in the following four aspects: firstly, the proportion of general trade imports and exports has increased, accounting for over 65%. The proportion of general trade in imports and exports can best reflect the technological progress and structural upgrading of China's foreign trade. In recent years, the proportion of general trade has been continuously increasing, indicating the continuous optimization of China's foreign trade structure. Secondly, in terms of trading partners, ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner, further reducing its dependence on the US market. Thirdly, the proportion of imports and exports of private enterprises has significantly increased. The development of private enterprises is another important manifestation of the optimization of China's foreign trade development structure. Fourthly, in terms of export product structure, both mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products have shown a growth trend. In recent years, China's advanced manufacturing industries such as electromechanical products and traditional labor-intensive products have developed side by side, with relatively high growth rates. This means that China's foreign trade development has taken into account both traditional advantageous products and products with high technological content, reflecting the upgrading of China's foreign trade export product structure and continuous improvement of technological level.

Since this year, in the face of the external environment of slowing growth in external demand and accelerating restructuring of the international supply chain pattern, China has unswervingly expanded opening up, strengthened friendly cooperation with countries around the world, promoted the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", and improved trade facilitation. Multiple local governments have organized foreign trade enterprises to "go global" and welcomed overseas merchants, greatly increasing the channels and confidence for export enterprises to explore the market and accept orders.

In the future, the international environment will still be complex and severe, but we need to see the resilience advantage of China's foreign trade development. We need to seize the current momentum of recovery, gather multiple forces, base ourselves on the current situation, focus on the long-term, and make every effort to stabilize the basic situation of foreign trade, achieve stable foreign trade development, and provide a good foundation for high-quality economic development. Wang Xiaosong suggested that we should make full use of the RCEP policy dividends, stabilize the European and American markets, and strengthen the technological content of our products.

In Wang Xiaosong's view, the market does not need to worry about the impact of the transfer of labor-intensive products and industries to Southeast Asia on China's traditional trade. Trade and investment are not isolated. By seizing the opportunities of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", RCEP and other opportunities, Chinese enterprises can "collectively go to the sea", invest and set up factories in Southeast Asia, extend the value chain and industrial chain abroad in a real sense, integrate the global value chain, and realize the integrated development of trade, investment and industry.