General

Recently, foreign trade import and export data of several provinces, autonomous regions and cities in the first 10 months have been released. According to the data released so far, the international trade in the central and western regions is growing rapidly as a whole. The growth rate of international trade in Xinjiang and Ningxia both exceeds 50%, while the growth rate in Jiangxi exceeds 40%, higher than the national growth rate. This shows that China's foreign trade has released strong toughness and vitality in the process of continuously optimizing the regional structure.

Release of potential in central and western China

On the evening of November 14, at the Jimunai Port in Xinjiang, more than 60 domestic cars drove to the border bridge and were driven out of the country by foreign drivers to Kazakhstan, Russia and other vast markets. This kind of "boundary bridge handover" mode of no meeting and zero contact throughout the whole process is quietly promoting the continuous export of Chinese cars under the COVID-19. According to the statistics of Jimunai Port Management Committee, since this year, the port has exported 4679 commodity vehicles to countries along the "the Belt and Road", achieving a substantial growth.

Horgos Port is also a busy scene. Forklifts, buses, dump trucks, second-hand new energy vehicles and other vehicles from Shanghai, Shandong, Shaanxi, Henan and other places are driving overseas in long queues. According to the data provided by Khorgos Entry Exit Border Inspection Station, as of October 18, Khorgos Road Port had exported 35408 commercial vehicles this year, an increase of 114% year on year, with an average daily output of 120 vehicles and a maximum daily output of 280 vehicles, constantly refreshing foreign trade reports.

These are two specific scenarios of the booming foreign trade in Xinjiang. According to the data released by Urumqi Customs on November 14, Xinjiang's international trade import and export from January to October this year amounted to 194.79 billion yuan, ranking first in the country in terms of cumulative growth and monthly growth. In October, the total value of foreign trade import and export of Xinjiang was 22.6 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 108.8%, ranking first in China.

Xinjiang is not an example. The overall growth rate of provinces, autonomous regions and cities in central and western China is fast. The growth rate of foreign trade in many regions exceeds double digits. The growth potential of foreign trade is released rapidly. For example, in the first 10 months of this year, Ningxia's foreign trade import and export increased by 57.6% year on year, Jiangxi by 40%, Hunan by 21.6%, Inner Mongolia by 19.6%, Hubei by 18.5%, Yunnan by 16.4%, Henan by 15.9%, Shandong by 13.9%, and Anhui by 11.2%.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that the overall high year-on-year growth rate of international trade imports and exports in the central and western regions in the first 10 months of this year benefited from many factors: first, with the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" moving forward in depth, the central and western regions accelerated their high-level opening up, and their economic export-oriented gradually increased; Second, the central and western regions have gradually given play to the advantages of backwardness, and the industry has developed rapidly. The layout of infrastructure such as China Europe trains has become increasingly perfect, and the export advantages have become prominent; Third, under the epidemic situation, maritime transport has been greatly affected. The central and western regions, relying on the advantages of China Europe regular trains and sparsely populated areas, have absorbed industries and export businesses to drive the rapid growth of foreign trade; Fourth, the overall scale of foreign trade in the central and western regions is small, and it is in the stage of rapid expansion with a low base, which makes the foreign trade in the central and western regions show a high growth trend; Fifth, from the market side, countries along the "the Belt and Road" show strong growth potential and huge market space.

Bright spots and excellent structure

The scale of international trade import and export reached 176.39 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 65.4%, accounting for 90.6% of the total value of local foreign trade import and export in the same period, driving the overall growth of foreign trade by 57.4 percentage points... This is the eye-catching performance of the countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road" in foreign trade import and export to Xinjiang in the first 10 months.

Countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road" have become one of the important driving forces for the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions in the first 10 months of this year. For example, Jiangxi's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 186.86 billion yuan, up 71.4% year on year; Hunan's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" was 199.71 billion yuan, up 48.7%, accounting for more than 1/3 of the province's total foreign trade value; The import and export of Henan and the countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 188.19 billion yuan, up 37.3%; The import and export of Sichuan and the countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 260.72 billion yuan, an increase of 14.2%, accounting for 31.5% of the province's total foreign trade; Anhui's import and export to the countries along the "the Belt and Road" was 1700.4 billion yuan, up 18.4%, accounting for 27.3% of the province's total import and export value.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) market is also one of the important factors driving the foreign trade growth of the central and western regions in the first 10 months of this year. For example, Henan's import and export to RCEP member countries reached 214.86 billion yuan, up 26.2%; Xinjiang's import and export to RCEP member countries reached 8.96 billion yuan, up 25.4%; Yunnan's import and export to RCEP member countries reached 119.77 billion yuan, up 7.9%.

Ni Yueju, a researcher at the Institute of World Economy and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China's foreign trade has achieved positive results in the diversification of the international market. Not only has the proportion of trade with countries along the "the Belt and Road" increased rapidly, but the dividends of free trade agreements such as RCEP are also continuing to release, becoming an important factor supporting the stable development of China's foreign trade in the future.

It is worth mentioning that in the first 10 months, the exports of labor-intensive products and mechanical and electrical products in central and western provinces, autonomous regions and cities were growing, and the processing trade and general trade also achieved rapid growth. For example, Xinjiang's export commodities are mainly concentrated in labor-intensive products and mechanical and electrical products, which together account for 84% of the total export value of Xinjiang in the same period; The export of mechanical and electrical products, basic organic chemicals and labor-intensive products in Ningxia increased by 96.2%, 53.9% and 97.1% respectively; Henan's import and export by processing trade and general trade increased by 15.6% and 13.7% year on year respectively, accounting for more than 60% and 34.5% of the province's total foreign trade respectively; The export of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products in Yunnan increased by 6.8% and 42% respectively, accounting for 33.1% and 15.5% of the total local foreign trade respectively.

Bai Ming also reminded that compared with the eastern region, the industrial system in the central and western regions is relatively weak, the degree of economic extroversion is still not high enough, and the growth of foreign trade may fluctuate. In the future, to maintain the rapid growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions, it is essential to consolidate the industrial foundation, cultivate an export-oriented industrial system, and at the same time, strengthen the reform of business environment, customs clearance facilitation, and further strengthen the development of the "the Belt and Road" market.