China’s foreign trade increased 3.4% in 2019
January 21, 2020 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
China’s foreign trade rose by 3.4% year-on-year to CNY31.54 trillion in 2019, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. Exports hit CNY17.23 trillion, an increase of 5% from a year earlier, while imports edged up by 1.6% to CNY14.31 trillion, making the overall trade surplus soar 25.3% to CNY2.92 trillion. For the first time private firms overtook foreign-funded enterprises as the biggest contributor to China’s foreign trade in 2019. The aggregate imports and exports generated by China’s private firms went up 11.4% year-on-year to CNY13.48 trillion, accounting for 42.7% of the country’s total, up 3.1 percentage points from 2018. Among them, exports totaled CNY8.9 trillion, up 13%, while imports grew 8.4% to CNY4.58 trillion.
Foreign-invested enterprises’ foreign trade amounted to CNY12.57 trillion, to make up 39.9% of the total, while imports and exports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) added up to CNY5.32 trillion, contributing 16.9%. In December, China saw foreign trade increase by 12.7% year-on-year to CNY3.01 trillion, of which exports rose 9% to CNY1.67 trillion, while imports skyrocketed by 17.7% to CNY1.34 trillion. The three figures hit record highs for a single month. “The big rise in year-over-year export growth in December was mainly due to three factors: a low base in December 2018 as a result of front-loading; the recent de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war; and a moderate recovery of the global economy,” said Lu Ting, Chief China Economist of Nomura.
The European Union remained China’s largest trading partner at CNY4.86 trillion in 2019, up 8%. Trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) added up to CNY4.43 trillion, an increase of 14.1%, making ASEAN the second-largest trading partner of China last year. Trade with the United States, however, posted a decline, with the value down 10.7% to CNY3.73 trillion over the year. China Customs also highlighted that foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road had soared to CNY9.27 trillion, an increase of 10.8%, which was 7.4 percentage points faster than the overall growth pace, the Shanghai Daily reports.
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