China's foreign trade reached CNY23.6 trillion in the first seven months of 2022, growing 10.4% year-on-year in the first seven months of the year, 1 percentage point faster than in the first half of the year. The growth rate in the first half was 9.4%. During the first seven months, the country's exports grew 14.7% year-on-year to reach CNY13.37 trillion, whereas imports were up 5.3% to hit CNY10.23 trillion. ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner during the first seven months, accounting for 15% of the country's total foreign trade. China's trade with its top three trading partners – ASEAN, the EU, and the U.S. – grew 13.2%, 8.9%, and 11.8% from a year ago, respectively. China's trade with Belt and Road economies jumped 19.8% year-on-year, while that with the 14 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) economies was up 7.5% from January to July. Amid the ongoing uncertainty, the country will implement a series of measures to stabilize and improve the quality of foreign trade in the second half of the year to consolidate its resilience, Shu Jueting, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said.
China-U.S. trade rose by 11.8% in yuan terms to CNY2.93 trillion in the first seven months of this year, demonstrating rigid U.S. demand for Chinese goods, experts said, though they predicted that China-U.S. trade growth might slow to some extent in the coming months as a result of deteriorating bilateral relations. In the first seven months of this year, China's exports to the U.S. rose 15.1% to CNY2.25 trillion, while imports rose 2.3% on a yearly basis. China's trade surplus with the U.S. widened by 21.7% to CNY1.57 trillion, customs data showed. Hu Qimu, Chief Research Fellow at the Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, said that the recovery of the U.S. economy following the easing of pandemic control measures has boosted U.S. demand for foreign products, a large part of which are made in China.
China-Russia trade rose 29% in the first seven months of 2022 to USD97.71 billion, as the two countries maintain normal cooperation despite Western sanctions. Experts expect that China-Russia trade could surpass last year's levels as Russia is shifting trade to Asia. China's exports to Russia expanded 5.2% to USD36.27 billion, and imports from Russia grew 48.8% from a year earlier to USD61.44 billion in the first seven months. “It is expected that the foreign trade between China and Russia this year would surpass the level of 2021 when the bilateral trade stood at USD146.87 billion, a record high,” Song Kui, President of the Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute, told the Global Times. In addition to energy cooperation, in recently years, China-Russia trade has been expanding to food and agriculture, new energy vehicles (NEVs) and other fields, Song added. Wang Wentao, China's Commerce Minister said during a virtual meeting with Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov that since the beginning of the year, China-Russia trade has maintained strong growth momentum.
Following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, mainland authorities tightened enforcement of labeling rules first issued in 1999 on imports from the island. Apple told its suppliers to avoid labeling products from Taiwan as “made in Taiwan”. They must be labeled as made either in “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipei” to avoid shipments from being held up for examination. China Customs also suspended the entry of citrus fruits including grapefruits, lemons and oranges, as well as two types of fish from the island. The mainland's exports of natural sand, used in construction, to the island were banned.
