Posted on 08 Nov 2023
China's foreign trade value remained largely unchanged over January-October from the year-earlier level, witnessing a tiny 0.03% uptick to total Yuan 34.32 trillion ($4.9 trillion), according to the latest data released by the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on Tuesday. Within the total, exports edged up 0.4% on year to Yuan 19.55 trillion, while imports lost 0.5% on year to Yuan 14.77 trillion, the statistics show.
During the past ten months, Chinese exports and imports declined by 5.6% and 6.5% respectively in value in US dollar terms, according to GACC, while the total trade value shrank 6% on year.
For October alone, the country's foreign trade value added up to Yuan 3.54 trillion, up 0.9% on year though lower by 5.3% on month. Within the total value, that for exports eased by 3.1% on year or down by 8.2% on month to Yuan 1.97 trillion, while imports rose 6.4% on year but were down 1.5% on month at Yuan 1.57 trillion, the GACC data indicated.
China's top trade partner over January-October was again the ASEAN region, with the value of bilateral trade amounting to Yuan 5.23 trillion, up 0.9% on year and accounting for 15.2% of the total trade value.
In tandem, the EU ranked second-largest with a total value of Yuan 4.59 trillion, down 1.6% on year or accounting for 13.4% of the total. The third was the U.S. with the trade value slipping 7.6% on year to Yuan 3.86 trillion, contributing to 11.2% of the total.
As for "Belt and Road Initiative" countries, their trade value with China reached Yuan 15.96 trillion during the first ten months, up 3.2% on year. The value of their exports to China grew 7.7% on year to Yuan 8.78 trillion, though China's imports from them retreated by 1.8% on year in value terms to Yuan 7.18 trillion, according to Customs.
Among Chinese enterprises involved in foreign trade over January-October, privately-owned firms posted a 6.2% on-year rise in their trade value at Yuan 18.24 trillion, accounting for 53.1% of the total, or 3.1 percentage points higher on year, the release showed.
Meanwhile, foreign-invested enterprises in China saw their trade value decline 9.2% on year to Yuan 10.48 trillion, accounting for 30.5% of the total.
In terms of products that China exported during the first ten months, those of machinery, electrical goods and electronics rose by 2.8% on year to equal Yuan 11.43 trillion, contributing to 58.5% of total exports.
Among China's imports of bulk commodities during January-October, those of iron ore, crude oil, coal and natural gas all increased in volume, according to GACC, with those of iron ore jumping by 6.5% on year to reach 976 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
