China's total merchandise trade grew by 5.2% year-on-year from January to October to CNY36.02 trillion, continuing stable growth and displaying consistent structural improvements. According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), exports rose 6.7% year-on-year to CNY20.8 trillion, while imports climbed 3.2% to CNY15.22 trillion in the first 10 months. Thanks to a package of policies, the country's merchandise trade grew by 4.6% year-on-year in October alone in yuan-denominated terms, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the September rate, according to the GAC. Zhou Maohua, Economist at China Everbright Bank, attributed the robust exports in October to the joint effect of several factors including the improving structure of China's foreign trade, the central government's support policies and the base effect.
“The better-than-expected export performance, along with a package of counter-cyclical measures, will further strengthen market confidence to reach the full-year economic growth goal,” Zhou told the Global Times. The annual foreign trade goals of stable growth and quality improvements are on track to be met, said GAC Spokesman Lü Daliang. In the first 10 months, the general trade value accounted for 64.1% of the country's total foreign trade. The trade value of private enterprises accounted for 55.1% of the total during the period, a bright spot in China's foreign trade development, GAC data showed.
Throughout this period, ASEAN remained China's top trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching CNY5.67 trillion in the first 10 months, up 8.8% from a year earlier, accounting for 15.7% of the country's total foreign trade, followed by the EU with trade standing at CNY4.64 trillion and the U.S. at CNY4.01 trillion, up by 4.4%. China's exports to the U.S. totaled CNY3.04 trillion, a 4.9% rise, while imports from the U.S. amounted to CNY969.48 billion, up by 2.9%. China's trade with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) totaled CNY16.94 trillion, a 6.2% year-on-year increase. China's exports are expected to remain steady, Zhou said, noting that China's foreign trade remains competitive globally thanks to the country's complete industrial system and constant improvements in its foreign trade structure and quality. In addition, there are signs that global electronics product demand is recovering.
Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), stressed that China's economic fundamentals and favorable conditions such as a huge market, strong economic resilience and great potential have remained unchanged. Also, the recent stimulus policy package has received positive feedback, vigorously boosting social confidence, the Governor said, as reported by the Global Times.
The China Daily adds that China’s foreign trade will sustain steady growth for the remainder of 2024 and exporters should prepare for potential challenges, including higher tariffs, by enhancing product competitiveness and expanding sales in emerging markets. These steps will help address possible obstacles posed by anticipated policy shifts in certain countries, such as trade remedy measures and additional countervailing duties, analysts noted. The value of China’s electromechanical product exports, including electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and integrated circuits, reached CNY12.36 trillion in the first 10 months, up 8.5% year-on-year, accounting for 59.4% of the nation’s total export value.
To support the foreign trade sector, Chinese authorities will ramp up financial support, expand the coverage and scale of export credit insurance, and make full use of policy-based loans for micro and small-sized enterprises. The country will also continuously improve financial services for foreign trade companies in areas such as credit approval, loan disbursement and repayments, while optimizing cross-border trade settlement to help enterprises enhance their currency risk management capabilities. More steps will be taken to bolster new engines of growth in the foreign trade sector, with a focus on promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce and advancing the construction of overseas smart logistics platforms.
