On September 7, the General Administration of Customs released data showing that in August, my country's total import and export value was 3.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% over the same period last year (the same below). Among them, exports were 2.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.8%; imports were 1.59 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.6%; the trade surplus was 535.91 billion yuan, an increase of 40.4%.
In dollar terms, in August, my country's total import and export value was 550.45 billion US dollars, an increase of 4.1%. Among them, the export was 314.92 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.1%; the import was 235.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 0.3%; the trade surplus was 79.39 billion US dollars, an increase of 34.1%.
Export resilience remains
In the first eight months of this year, my country's total import and export value was 27.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.1%. Among them, exports were 15.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.2%; imports were 11.82 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2%; trade surplus was 3.66 trillion yuan, an increase of 58.2%. In US dollar terms, the total value of my country's imports and exports in the first eight months was US$4.19 trillion, an increase of 9.5%. Among them, the export was 2.38 trillion US dollars, an increase of 13.5%; the import was 1.81 trillion US dollars, an increase of 4.6%; the trade surplus was 560.52 billion US dollars, an increase of 56.7%.
"In general, the advantages of a complete domestic industrial chain combined with the policy of maintaining stability and improving quality of foreign trade continue to increase, which is conducive to supporting export growth. However, the demand-suppressing effect of accelerated monetary policy tightening in developed economies has emerged, and the high base effect and export substitution effect have weakened on exports. The growth rate will have a certain suppression effect." said the macroeconomic research group of the National Economic Research Center of Peking University.
Li Chao, chief economist of Zheshang Securities, believes that my country's export resilience is still there. Short-term depreciation and export price support still drive strong exports. China's relative advantage in supply will become an important source of export resilience, and supply advantages will establish a relative export boom.
In terms of specific export commodities, auto exports performed well. In the first 8 months, my country's export of mechanical and electrical products was 8.75 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.8%, accounting for 56.5% of the total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its parts and components were 1.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.5%; mobile phones were 555.39 billion yuan, an increase of 4.2%; automobiles were 216.8 billion yuan, an increase of 57.6%.
Import growth slowed down slightly
In terms of imports, in August, my country imported 1.59 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, a decline from the previous month.
In the first 8 months, the import volume and price of my country's iron ore fell, and the import volume of crude oil, coal, natural gas and soybeans decreased in price. In the first eight months, my country imported 723 million tons of iron ore, down 3.1%, and the average import price was 827.8 yuan per ton, down 29.4%. During the same period, the imported crude oil was 330 million tons, down 4.7%, the average import price was 4,792.1 yuan per ton, up 56.8%; the coal was 168 million tons, down 14.9%, and the average import price was 1,021.3 yuan per ton, up 81.2%; natural gas was 71.045 million tons, up 81.2%. It decreased by 10.2%, and the average import price was 3882.2 yuan per ton, up 61.6%; soybeans were 61.329 million tons, down 8.6%, and the average import price was 4354.5 yuan per ton, up 25.6%;
The macroeconomic research group of the National Economic Research Center of Peking University believes that the domestic growth stabilization policy continues to exert force, expanding effective investment and promoting consumption are still the important focus of current and future policies, which will help support the gradual recovery of domestic demand, or will drive China's imports Demand picks up. It should be noted that global inflation is running at a high level. Affected by the tightening of monetary policies in developed economies, global commodity prices are showing a downward trend, weakening the supporting role of price factors on import growth.
The structure of foreign trade continues to be optimized
Customs data show that my country's imports and exports to major trading partners such as ASEAN, the European Union and the United States have grown.
In the first eight months, ASEAN was my country's largest trading partner. The total trade value between my country and ASEAN was 4.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 14%, accounting for 15% of my country's total foreign trade.
The EU is my country's second largest trading partner. The total trade value between my country and the EU is 3.75 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5%, accounting for 13.7%.
The United States is my country's third largest trading partner, and the total value of Sino-US trade is 3.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.1%, accounting for 12.3%.
South Korea is my country's fourth largest trading partner. The total trade value between China and South Korea is 1.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.8%, accounting for 5.9%.
During the same period, my country’s total imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” reached 8.77 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.2%. Among them, exports were 4.96 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.4%; imports were 3.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 20%.
The continuous optimization of the foreign trade structure is also reflected in the rapid growth and increasing proportion of the import and export of private enterprises. In the first eight months, the import and export of private enterprises reached 13.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.9%, accounting for 50.1% of my country's total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.1 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 9.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.2%, accounting for 60% of the total export value; imports were 4.38 trillion yuan, an increase of 5%, accounting for 37.1% of the total import value.