Return blood! For the first time in the year, both of them showed positive growth, and five figures read the import and export in the first half of the year.

On July 14th, the import and export data for the first half of 2020 were released.

According to customs statistics, in the first half of this year, the total import and export value of China’s goods trade was 14.24 trillion yuan, down 3.2% year-on-year, and the decline was 1.7 percentage points narrower than that in the previous five months. Among them, exports were 7.71 trillion yuan, down 3%; Imports were 6.53 trillion yuan, down 3.3%.

Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, said that at present, the world hit by the COVID-19 epidemic is undergoing profound changes, the world economy is in deep recession, international trade and investment are shrinking sharply, and the external environment for China’s foreign trade development is severe and complicated. Since the beginning of this year, in the face of the impact and challenges brought by the epidemic, China has taken the lead in controlling the epidemic worldwide, and has taken the lead in realizing a comprehensive resumption of work and production. At the same time, it has introduced a series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade, providing important support for promoting the steady growth of foreign trade. In the first half of the year, China’s foreign trade import and export decreased by 3.2%, but the decline was significantly narrowed by 3.3 percentage points compared with the first quarter. Among them, in June, both imports and exports achieved positive growth for the first time in the year, and the overall performance of foreign trade imports and exports in the first half of the year was better than expected.

5.1%

In June, both exports and imports achieved positive growth.

Foreign trade import and export in the first half of the year was better than expected. In June, both exports and imports achieved positive growth. From a quarterly perspective, after experiencing shocks in the first quarter, imports and exports stabilized in the second quarter. In the second quarter of this year, China’s foreign trade import and export was 7.67 trillion yuan, down 0.2% year-on-year, and the decline was 6.3 percentage points narrower than that in the first quarter.

From a monthly perspective, exports have achieved positive growth for three consecutive months since April. In June, imports and exports increased by 5.1% year-on-year, of which exports increased by 4.3% and imports increased by 6.2%.

6.42 trillion yuan

The import and export of private enterprises grew against the trend.

Private enterprises play a more prominent role in the steady growth of foreign trade. In the first half of the year, the import and export of private enterprises, as the largest business entity of foreign trade, was 6.42 trillion yuan, up 4.9%, accounting for 45.1% of China’s total foreign trade, up 3.5 percentage points over the same period last year.

Among them, exports were 4.14 trillion yuan, up 3.2%, accounting for 53.7% of the total export value; Imports reached 2.28 trillion yuan, up 8.1%, accounting for 34.9% of the total import value. In the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 5.55 trillion yuan, accounting for 39%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 2.22 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.6%.

2.09 trillion yuan

ASEAN’s performance is eye-catching and it has become China’s largest trading partner.

The import and export of ASEAN continued to grow, and ASEAN became China’s largest trading partner. In the first half of the year, China’s import and export to ASEAN was 2.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6%, accounting for 14.7% of China’s total foreign trade; Imports and exports to the EU reached 1.99 trillion yuan, down 1.8%; Imports and exports to the United States reached 1.64 trillion yuan, down 6.6%.

In addition, China’s import and export to countries along the "Belt and Road" was 4.2 trillion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.9%, and the decline rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than that of the whole.

Li Kuiwen introduced that in the second quarter, most of my imports and exports with major trading partners increased. From the top ten trading partners in the first half of the year, the growth and decline accounted for half, while in the second quarter alone, the number of growth reached 8.

Among them, the most eye-catching performance is ASEAN, which benefits from the relatively good overall epidemic prevention and control situation in the region, and the economic and trade cooperation with China has continued to deepen in recent years, the industrial chain has been more closely integrated, and bilateral trade has grown steadily. In the first half of this year, the import and export value between China and ASEAN reached 2.09 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.7% of China’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the same period last year.

46.4%

Exports of epidemic prevention materials increased rapidly.

The export of epidemic prevention materials and "house economy" products grew rapidly, while the export decline of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products was lower than the overall decline. In the first half of the year, the export of textiles, including masks, increased by 32.4%, the export of medical materials and medicines, medical instruments and instruments increased by 23.6% and 46.4% respectively, and the increase of "home economy" consumption led to the export of notebook computers and mobile phones increased by 9.1% and 0.2% respectively.

In the same period, the export of mechanical and electrical products in China was 4.52 trillion yuan, down 2.3%, accounting for 58.6% of the total export value; The export of seven categories of labor-intensive products, such as textiles and clothing, was 1.5 trillion yuan, down 1.4%, accounting for 19.4%.

Li Kuiwen said at the press conference that the export of epidemic prevention materials and mobile phones is improving. Since the beginning of this year, a series of policies and measures, such as improving export tax rebate policy, increasing foreign trade credit supply, increasing export credit insurance support, adding cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and supporting export to domestic sales, have been effective, helping foreign trade enterprises tide over difficulties, protect markets and ensure orders, which has effectively promoted exports. In the second quarter, the export value reached 4.38 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, and the export of epidemic prevention materials increased rapidly.

2.123 million tons

Imported pork increased by 1.4 times.

The volume of import and export freight increased, and the import of major commodities and key agricultural products increased. In the first half of the year, the customs supervised the import and export freight volume of 2.33 billion tons, an increase of 6.6%. Among them, imports were 1.56 billion tons, an increase of 8.3%.

Li Kuiwen said that China took the lead in resuming production to support the recovery of import value. The situation of domestic epidemic prevention and control is improving, taking the lead in promoting enterprises to resume work and production, which has formed a strong support for import and export. In the month of June, China’s imports achieved positive growth year-on-year. In the first half of the year, the import value of China’s mechanical and electrical products increased by 1.2%, among which the import of electronic components, automatic data processing equipment and its parts increased by 14.1% and 7.2% respectively, and the import of bulk commodities such as crude oil, coal, iron ore and copper ore increased by 9.9%, 12.7%, 9.6% and 3% respectively.

In the same period, the import of some agricultural products increased, including 45.044 million tons of imported soybeans, an increase of 17.9%; Imported pork was 2.123 million tons, an increase of 1.4 times; Imported beef was 997,000 tons, an increase of 42.9%.

remove doubts

What is the development of foreign trade in the second half of the year and the whole year?

Li Kuiwen believes that the current epidemic is still spreading around the world, the world economy is seriously declining, and international trade and investment are shrinking sharply. According to the latest forecast of the International Monetary Fund, the world economy will decline by 4.9% this year, and the World Bank predicts that the global economy will decline by 5.2%, which is the most serious economic recession since World War II. The World Trade Organization also predicts that global trade in goods will decline by 13% to 32%, and UNCTAD predicts a decline of 20%. The uncertainties and unstable factors faced by China’s foreign trade development have obviously increased. Coupled with the impact of Sino-US economic and trade frictions, the import and export situation in the second half of the year is still complicated and severe.

However, we must also see that China’s foreign trade development is full of resilience and room for manoeuvre. With the continuous release of a series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade, we are confident to stabilize the basic foreign trade and strive to achieve stability and quality improvement in imports and exports.

Editor Wang Jinyu proofreads Wei Zhuo.