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China’s foreign trade maintains steady growth in first 9 months: Economic
Watch
BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – China’s foreign trade remained
stable in the first nine months with improved trade structure, customs data
showed on Friday.
Foreign trade rose 9.9 percent year on year to 22.28 trillion yuan (about
3.23 trillion U.S. dollars) during January-September, according to the
General Administration of Customs (GAC).
Exports increased 6.5 percent in the period to 11.86 trillion yuan while
imports grew 14.1 percent to 10.42 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade
surplus of 1.44 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 28.3 percent.
By and large, China’s foreign trade growth in 2018 remained steady with
progress witnessed, and the country has been advancing the high-quality
development of its foreign trade, Li Kuiwen, spokesperson for the GAC,told a
press conference.
In the first nine months, exports and imports of products under the
general trade category, which are differentiated from processing trade,
gained 13.5 percent from a year ago to 13.02 trillion yuan, accounting for
58.4 percent of the total foreign trade, 1.9 percentage points higher than
the same period in 2017.
The country’s trade with major trading partners saw an increase during the
January-September period. Trade with the European Union, its largest trading
partner, climbed 7.3 percent, and trade volume with the U.S. and ASEAN
countries increased by 6.5 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.
Export of electric-mechanical products increased by 7.8 percent to 6.91
trillion yuan, taking up 58.3 percent of China’s total export value.
China has taken measures to readjust its export structure, with exports of
automobiles and machine tools expanding 16.3 percent and 18.7 percent,
respectively.
In the January-September period, China imported 336 million tonnes of
crude oil, 64.78 million tonnes of natural gas and 24.59 million tonnes of
refined oil.
Imports of iron ore and soybean dropped by 1.6 percent and 2 percent to
803 million tonnes and 70.01 million tonnes, respectively, during the same
period.
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Meanwhile, China’s overall import price has grown by 4.2 percent. Major
bulk commodities, including crude oil, natural gas and copper, have seen an
increase both in volume and price.
Li Kuiwen attributed the increase in imports to the government’s favorable
measures, including tax cuts, policies to optimize the business environment
and tariff reductions.
He projected China’s foreign trade to maintain stable growth with improved
quality and efficiency, as the country is deepening supply-side structural
reform, strengthening its inner dynamism, facilitating trade and diversifying
its market.
Foreign trade in the fourth quarter is expected to slow down due to a
higher comparison basis, plus instabilities and uncertainties in global
environment, he said.
China posted a GDP growth rate of 6.8 percent in the first half of this
year, which has remained between 6.7 percent and 6.9 percent for 12
consecutive quarters.
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