Outstanding results! my country's foreign trade has taken a steady "rebound curve"

In the first five months of this year, the total value of my country's import and export of goods was 17.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. Among them, the import and export in May was 3.71 trillion yuan, and the growth rate increased by 0.6 percentage points from April to 8.6%.

From the ups and downs of exports in the first quarter to the monthly improvements since April and May, my country's foreign trade imports and exports have followed a steady "rebound curve."

According to Shanghai Customs statistics, in the first five months of this year, the total value of foreign trade imports and exports in the Yangtze River Delta region reached 6.4 trillion yuan, a record high, up 6.1% year-on-year, accounting for 36.6% of the country's total imports and exports. The import and export of high-tech products reached 1.56 trillion yuan, up 8.4% year-on-year, accounting for 35.2% of the country's total import and export value of similar commodities.

In the first five months, the import and export of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region reached 2.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 5%, a record high for the same period in history, accounting for 12.2% of the total value of national foreign trade in the same period. Among them, Beijing accounted for 72.8% of the foreign trade in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, pulling up the growth rate of regional foreign trade by 3.2 percentage points, and its role as a "locomotive" was further highlighted.

The total foreign trade value of the nine mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area reached 3.45 trillion yuan, a record high for the same period in history, an increase of 13.8% year-on-year, accounting for 19.7% of the total import and export value of the country during the same period. Among them, Shenzhen's import and export value accounted for 52.6% of the total foreign trade value of the nine mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The total import and export value of the nine provinces and regions in the Yellow River Basin reached 2.37 trillion yuan, a record high, up 4.2% year-on-year. Among them, Shandong Province's import and export value reached 1.32 trillion yuan, accounting for 55.7% of the region's total import and export value.

Exports of high-end smart green products drive foreign trade growth

In recent years, my country's machine tool industry has accelerated its development, policies have continued to support, and the localization rate has continued to increase. From 2014 to 2023, my country's machine tool exports will grow by an average of 9.1% per year, turning from a trade deficit country to a trade surplus country, from a trade deficit of 39.17 billion yuan in 2014 to a trade surplus of 28.11 billion yuan in 2023, and its share of global exports will increase from 8.8% to 17.3%. This year, the proportion of machine tool exports to emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, and India has increased rapidly.

According to the relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Customs, the continuous consolidation of the positive momentum of foreign trade is closely related to the continued recovery and improvement of my country's economic operation. Driven by the good export momentum of high-end, intelligent and green products and the steady expansion of import scale, the monthly import and export growth rate has further accelerated.

Zhejiang Province is the province with the largest number of machine tool exports in China. From January to May this year, the export volume and value of machine tools in Zhejiang Province increased by 8.0% and 24.9% respectively. Walking into the production workshop of this CNC machine tool company in Taizhou, Zhejiang, multiple production lines are working at full capacity to rush orders from Malaysia.

Lin Zongsheng, head of Zhejiang Taizhou Machine Tool Technology Company: Sales have been growing by more than 20% every year. We have successfully opened up new markets such as Malaysia, Turkey, India and Thailand.

With the improvement of independent research and development capabilities and international vision, the internationalization process of Chinese industrial machine tool companies is accelerating. More local manufacturing companies are focusing on jointly building emerging markets along the "Belt and Road" and accelerating overseas market layout, allowing Chinese high-end equipment to go abroad and into the world.

Customs data showed that in the first five months of this year, high-tech and value-added electromechanical products accounted for nearly 60% of exports, among which, exports of ships, electric vehicles and household appliances increased by 100.1%, 26.3% and 17.8% respectively.

Labor-intensive traditional industries actively explore emerging markets

Also in Zhejiang, a major foreign trade province, labor-intensive industries, as a traditional advantageous industry, have been ranked first in the country since 2019. The national share of labor-intensive products has also increased from 24.6% in 2019 to 27.9% in the first five months of this year.

Walking into the showroom of this Zhejiang technology company, you will be amazed by the automatically adjustable office desks and smart kitchen furniture. In the early years, the company mainly produced and exported drive products and electromechanical parts. As its own brand has been recognized by customers in more than 100 countries and regions, the company began to layout the international market for finished furniture last year.

With their keen sense of smell and quick response, many labor-intensive enterprises in Zhejiang Province have achieved impressive results in exploring emerging markets.

In the first five months of this year, Zhejiang's exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative accounted for more than 50%, reaching 51.4%, an increase of 4.2 percentage points from 2019. Among them, the export proportion to markets such as ASEAN, Latin America, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe has increased significantly.

Through the window of foreign trade, we can see that my country continues to expand its high-level opening up. A series of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade have helped the majority of foreign trade entities to rise to the challenge, innovate and develop, and promote the "quality improvement and quantity stability" of foreign trade.

Walking into this power tool company in Jiangsu, you will see that the production line, from processing to assembly to packaging, is done in one go. These assembled power tools will soon be shipped to all parts of the world.

Shi Xinping, general manager of Jiangsu Dongcheng Electromechanical Tools Co., Ltd.: Our overseas marketing network for power tools has spread to more than 60 countries and regions including Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States. From January to May, the company exported 166 million yuan to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, a year-on-year increase of 12.22%.

Private enterprises actively seek innovation and progress, and work hard to explore and adapt to the global market; on the other hand, the government and relevant departments continue to optimize the business environment, strengthen policy, financial and other support, and serve the high-quality development of private enterprises.

Customs statistics show that in the first five months of this year, the number of my country's foreign trade operators with import and export performance increased by 8.7% year-on-year. Among them, the number of private enterprises increased by 10.1%, and the import and export value increased by 11.5%. The proportion of private enterprises in my country's foreign trade increased by 2.6 percentage points to 54.7% compared with the same period last year.

The stabilization of foreign trade reflects my country's super-large market advantages

Industry insiders said that as the world's second largest commodity consumer market, new technologies and new products are fully competing in China and are quickly commercialized, thus being recognized by the wider international market.

A recent survey by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade shows that 81.6% of foreign trade companies predict that exports will improve or remain the same in the first half of the year, and 65.1% of the surveyed companies have seen an increase or the same level of new orders compared with the previous quarter.