China's foreign trade grew 4.7% year-on-year in the first five months of the year, extending good momentum for steady and consolidated growth. According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), China's exports grew by 8.1% year-on-year in yuan-denominated terms reaching CNY9.62 trillion, while imports grew by 0.5% year-on-year to CNY7.15 trillion. In the first five months, the structure of China's foreign trade sector continued to improve, with the country's trade with its major trade partners posting noteworthy growth. ASEAN remains China's largest trade partner, with bilateral trade up by 9.9% year-on-year to reach CNY2.59 trillion, accounting for 15.4% of the country's total. China's trade with the EU, its second-largest trade partner, grew by 3.6% year-on-year to CNY2.28 trillion.
China's total import and export volume with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) jumped by 13.2% year-on-year to CNY5.78 trillion, while that with five Central Asian countries surged by 44% year-on-year. China's foreign trade with other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) increased by 4.5% year-on-year to reach CNY5.11 trillion in the first five months, according to the GAC.
Private enterprises have played a larger role in driving up foreign trade. In the first five months, private firms' total trade volume grew by 13.1% year-on-year to CNY8.86 trillion, accounting for 52.8% of the country's total over the period, up 3.9 percentage points compared with the same period last year. It is worth noting that amid rising external challenges, China's foreign trade grew by 0.5% year-on-year in May alone to reach CNY3.45 trillion. Last month, the country's exports declined 0.8% year-on-year to CNY1.95 trillion, while imports grew by 2.3% year-on-year to CNY1.5 trillion.
China’s consumer inflation edged up marginally while factory-gate prices dropped further in May amid weak demand, suggesting that more stimulus policies may be needed to boost domestic demand and broaden the economic recovery.
