On November 7, Xinhua News Agency published “Steady Momentum, Strong Resilience – An Analysis of China’s Foreign Trade Import and Export Data for the First 10 Months”. The content is as follows:
In the face of external shocks, China’s foreign trade has demonstrated strong resilience. Data released by the General Administration of Customs on November 7 shows that in the first 10 months of this year, the total value of China’s goods trade import and export reached 37.31 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Specifically, the total import and export value for October alone was 3.7 trillion yuan, increasing by 0.1%.
Overall, although the cumulative growth rate slightly decreased by 0.4 percentage points compared to the first nine months, monthly imports and exports have maintained growth for nine consecutive months, confirming that the trend of steady growth in China’s foreign trade remains unchanged.
“This achievement was not easily earned,” analyzed Professor Zhuang Rui from the University of International Business and Economics. She stated that the steady momentum and strong resilience of China’s foreign trade this year depend on both supply and demand factors. From the supply side, China is currently accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. As new drivers and advantages in manufacturing accumulate and strengthen, new technologies and products emerge competitively, and the enhancement of innovation levels has stimulated the potential for foreign trade growth.
From the demand side, consumers worldwide continue to show strong demand for specialty goods and high-quality products from different countries. Particularly with the deepening cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, favorable conditions have been created for China’s exports. Simultaneously, China’s doors are opening wider, helping more global companies share in the vast Chinese market.
The structure of foreign trade products is continuously optimizing, and new drivers for exports are showing strong growth momentum. According to customs statistics, in the first 10 months, China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 13.43 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, contributing 5.2 percentage points to the overall export growth. Among these, exports of green products such as the “New Three” products (referring to electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells), railway electric locomotives, and wind turbine generators all achieved double-digit growth. New drivers oriented towards innovation, intelligence, and green development are continuously emerging, consistently promoting the quality and efficiency of China’s foreign trade.
Recently, the production lines for heaters at Cixi Fuyun Electric Co., Ltd. were operating at full speed, with intelligent equipment collaborating efficiently. Workers were busy testing, packaging, and loading containers. Soon, these heating “magic devices” will cross the seas, delivering “Chinese warmth” to the cold winters of Europe, North America, and other regions.
“Orders this year arrived particularly early and in large volumes,” said the workshop manager, pointing to the busy production line. “We are now operating three shifts, 24 hours non-stop, and still struggling to keep up.” According to statistics from Cixi Customs under Ningbo Customs, in the first eight months of this year, the total export value of heaters from Cixi City reached 2.32 billion yuan, of which exports to the EU amounted to 990 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%.
Leveraging a robust manufacturing foundation and a complete industrial system, more and more “Made in China” products are continuously exploring emerging markets, leading to more diversified trading partners.
Data shows that in the first 10 months, China’s total import and export with Belt and Road partner countries reached 19.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.9%. Among them, ASEAN maintained its position as China’s largest trading partner, with imports and exports to ASEAN growing by 9.1% year-on-year. Imports and exports with other APEC economies increased by 1.5%. Furthermore, China’s imports from Latin America, Africa, and Central Asian countries grew by 1%, 5.2%, and 23.7% respectively.
The accelerated cultivation of new business forms and models has become an important force driving foreign trade growth. With the ongoing “Double 11” e-commerce promotion, domestic e-commerce companies are seizing opportunities to expand overseas.
On the 7th, inside the Guangzhou Huadu Cross-border E-commerce Supervision Center, container trucks loaded with cross-border e-commerce goods such as clothing and bags were ready for departure. After supervision by customs officers from Huadu Customs under Guangzhou Customs, over 10,000 cross-border e-commerce export parcels from platforms including Pinduoduo, Douyin, and Alibaba were successfully released and will be delivered to overseas consumers as quickly as possible.
As a significant trend in international trade development, cross-border e-commerce, leveraging advantages like online transactions, contactless delivery, and short transaction chains, is increasingly becoming an indispensable lifestyle. Preliminary calculations by the General Administration of Customs estimate that in the first three quarters, China’s cross-border e-commerce import and export volume reached approximately 2.06 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%.
Currently, new drivers for foreign trade continue to gather pace. The proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan suggest “promoting market diversification and integration of domestic and foreign trade” and “optimizing and upgrading goods trade.” The upgraded protocol for the China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 was officially signed recently; the Ministry of Commerce issued the “Implementation Opinions on Expanding Green Trade,” the first specialized policy document in the field of green trade; and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange introduced new policies to further facilitate cross-border trade payments. Professor Zhuang Rui stated that these measures will vigorously promote trade innovation and international cooperation, providing support for the stable development of foreign trade in the next phase.
