Posted on 15 Jul 2024
China's foreign trade value posted an on-year rise of 6.1% in the first half of 2024 to reach Yuan 21.17 trillion ($2.98 trillion), capping Yuan 21 trillion for the first time for any January-June period in the country's history, according to the latest data released by the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on Friday. Within the total value, exports grew 6.9% on year to Yuan 12.13 trillion and imports ticked up 5.2% to Yuan 9.04 trillion.
For June alone, the country's foreign trade value stood at Yuan 3.67 trillion, higher by 5.8% on year though down 1% on month, according to GACC. Within the June result, the value of exports jumped by 10.7% on year and up 1.9% on month to Yuan 2.19 trillion, while imports reached Yuan 1.48 trillion, down 0.6% on year or falling 4.9% on month.
The countries of the ASEAN region collectively remained China's top trade partners in H1, with the trade value swelling by 10.5% on year to Yuan 3.36 trillion, or accounting for 15.9% of the country's total trade value, according to the release.
The second-largest trade grouping was the European Union, with the H1 trade value totalling Yuan 2.72 trillion, though inching down 0.7% on year and accounting for 12.8% of the total. The U.S. came third with the value rising 2.9% on year to Yuan 2.29 trillion, taking up 10.8% of the total, GACC noted.
GACC pointed out that "Belt and Road Initiative" countries saw their bilateral trade value with China rise by 7.2% on year during January-June to Yuan 10.03 trillion. Exports and imports accounted for Yuan 5.62 trillion and Yuan 4.41 trillion respectively, up 8.4% and 5.8% on year.
In H1, China's privately-owned enterprises remained dominant in the country's foreign trade, contributing Yuan 11.64 trillion to the total trade value, up 11.2% on year, with their share of the total gaining 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year to reach 55%.
The export value of Chinese machinery, electrical and electronics products amounted to Yuan 7.14 trillion for H1, rising by 8.2% on year and accounting for 58.9% of total export value, the Customs data showed.
As for China's commodity imports over January-June, iron ore, coal and natural gas saw their import volumes grow on year. In contrast, crude oil showed an on-year fall in import volume, down 2.3% to 275 million tonnes, Mysteel Global learned from the release.
Source:Mysteel Global
