BEIJING: China’s foreign trade reached 24.83 trillion yuan ($3.46 trillion) in the first seven months of this year, witnessing a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent, according to data released Wednesday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
Lyu Dailiang, spokesperson of the GAC, noted that China’s economic operation has been generally stable, with foreign trade maintaining a positive trend since the beginning of the year.
In the same period, exports totaled 14.26 trillion yuan, up 6.7 percent; while imports were 10.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.4 percent.
Strong growth has been attributed to a number of factors, including a strong domestic demand, advanced manufacturing, and a rebound in global trade.
ASEAN remained China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching 3.92 trillion yuan in the first seven months, up 10.5 percent from a year ago, accounting for 15.8 percent of the country’s total foreign trade. Despite the ongoing trade dispute following the imposition of provisional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by the EU, trade between the two sides ranked second at 3.22 trillion yuan, followed by the U.S. at 2.72 trillion yuan.
China’s goods trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative surged by 7.1 percent to 11.72 trillion yuan in the first seven months.
Mechanical and electrical products continued to dominate China’s exports during the period, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total.
In July, the country’s foreign trade amounted to 3.68 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent.
Analysts have expressed optimism about China’s current trade volume and its prospects into the second half of the year. This bodes well for the Chinese economy in maintaining its growth momentum. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
