General

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on June 7th, the total import and export value of China's foreign trade in the first five months was 16.77 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. Among them, exports reached 9.62 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%; Import reached 7.15 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%.

Although the overall foreign trade achieved stable growth, exports turned negative again in May after two months. According to customs data, China's imports and exports in May reached 3.45 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%. Among them, exports amounted to 1.95 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%; The import reached 1.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%.

The reporter learned from foreign trade enterprises and industry experts that in the face of the severe and complex international environment, China's foreign trade still has a certain degree of resilience and international competitiveness. However, the economic growth in Europe and America has slowed down, and overseas demand has not yet improved, causing exports to move forward under pressure. In the future, we should further leverage the policy effect, continuously enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, and promote the stability and quality improvement of foreign trade.

Continuous structural optimization showcases great resilience

From the foreign trade import and export transcripts of the past five months, it can be seen that China's foreign trade has achieved stable growth and continued to optimize its structure.

From a regional perspective, China's imports and exports to ASEAN and the European Union have increased, while its exports to the United States and Japan have decreased. Customs data shows that in the first five months, ASEAN continued to be China's largest trading partner, with China's imports and exports to ASEAN reaching 2.59 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%; Import and export to the European Union reached 2.28 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%; The total trade value with the United States and Japan decreased by 5.5% and 3.5% respectively. Over the same period, China's imports and exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" totaled 5.78 trillion yuan, up 13.2% year on year. Among them, the growth rate for Kazakhstan and other five Central Asian countries was 44%; Import and export to other RCEP member countries reached 5.11 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.

According to customs data, in terms of products, in the first five months, China's export of mechanical and electrical products reached 5.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5%, with an increase of 124.1% in automobiles; Export of labor-intensive products reached 1.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.4%.

Customs data shows that during the same period, the proportion of general trade imports and exports increased by 7%; Import and export through bonded logistics amounted to 2.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.4%. In addition, the import and export of private enterprises reached 8.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.1%, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

Xu Hongcai, Deputy Director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Policy Science Research Association, analyzed to reporters from International Business Daily: The regional structure of China's foreign trade is changing, and this' one increase and one decrease 'is a manifestation of structural optimization. Private enterprises have always maintained their position as the largest operating entity, and new formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce and bonded overseas warehouses have developed rapidly, indicating that China's foreign trade has withstood severe tests and demonstrated great resilience and international competitiveness

Administrative enterprises overcome difficulties before facing export pressure

It is worth noting that compared to the double-digit growth rate of exports in the previous two months, customs data shows that the slight decrease of 0.8% in exports in May compared to the same period last year is slightly bleak.

Frontline foreign trade enterprises feel more directly about this. Ye Weilun, General Manager of Guangzhou Migus Technology Development Co., Ltd., candidly told International Business Daily reporters, "Due to the continued sluggish market demand in Europe and America, the company's orders and exports have significantly decreased throughout the spring of this year. In addition, the continuous rise in domestic raw material supply prices has squeezed the company's profit margin due to the increase in procurement costs

Xu Hongcai stated that from the overall situation of the world economy this year, growth is weak. Especially in developed economies, inflation continues to run at high levels, and central banks in various countries have continuously raised interest rates to suppress market demand, which has brought certain pressure to foreign trade enterprises.

According to data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the global manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) in May was 48.3%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month and a new low since June 2020. Among them, the PMI of Manufacturing in the United States fell 0.2 percentage points to 46.9% compared with the previous month, and that of Europe fell 0.8 percentage points to 46.2% compared with the previous month.

At present, how to find breakthroughs in difficult situations is a common issue facing Ye Weilun and many foreign trade enterprises.

We must constantly expand our new products, try to break out of traditional categories, break through ourselves, and find new business opportunities. "Ye Weilun said that the company is gradually extending its scope from traditional toys, sports, sports products, etc. to industries such as home furnishing, home decoration, luggage, etc., making the categories more diverse and comprehensive, in order to attract consumers and further expand sales channels.

For example, we have expanded into markets such as Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, and South Korea this year and found that there is a huge demand for motorcycle helmets in the Hong Kong and Macao regions, while the demand for mother and child products in Japan and South Korea is gradually increasing. In line with market demands, the company has launched numerous products that are highly favored by overseas consumers through the use of IP brands and image.

At the same time, a series of policies recently introduced by various regions and departments to promote stable scale and optimized structure of foreign trade have also achieved good results. Ye Weilun looks forward to more policy support from relevant departments in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises in the second half of the year.

Xu Hongcai reminds that in the future, China will continue to face many challenges brought about by external environmental changes, especially when the United States takes the lead in restructuring the global supply chain system. We need to turn pressure into driving force, continuously promote the optimization of foreign trade structure, transformation of development mode, and increase technological content. At the same time, we need to further optimize the business environment, promote more business entities to unleash their potential, and thereby enhance China's foreign trade competitiveness