According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on April 14, the total value of China’s imports and exports of goods in the first quarter was 6.57 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.4% from the same period last year. Among them, exports were 3.33 trillion yuan, down 11.4%; imports were 3.24 trillion yuan, down 0.7%; trade surplus was 98.33 billion yuan, down 80.6%.

In the first quarter, although China’s imports and exports fell by 6.4%, the decline was significantly narrowed by 3.1 percentage points from the previous two months, and foreign trade imports and exports rebounded. The shrinking demand in the international market will inevitably have an impact on China’s foreign trade exports. With the gradual implementation of the first phase of the Sino-US economic and trade agreement, some positive factors have emerged in the bilateral economic and trade, especially the recent import of some commodities from the United States has shown a good growth momentum. But at the same time, it should also be noted that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged Spring Festival holiday this year, exports to the United States declined in the first quarter. According to customs statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the total value of Sino-US trade was 668.01 billion yuan, down 18.3% year-on-year; of which, exports to the United States were 476.55 billion yuan, down 23.6%; imports from the United States were 191.46 billion yuan, down 1.3%.

 

During the same period, the import and export of the “Belt and Road” accounted for more than 30%. In the same period, China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” accounted for a total import and export of 2.07 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, 9.6 percentage points higher than China’s foreign trade growth rate, accounting for 31.4%. Among them, exports were 1.1 trillion yuan, down 1.8%; imports were 965.44 billion yuan, up 9.6%.

 

Characteristics of import and export in the first quarter

Import and export rebounded in March

In March this year, China’s foreign trade imports and exports reached 2.45 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.8% year-on-year, and the decrease was 8.7 percentage points narrower than that in January-February. Among them, exports were 1.29 trillion yuan, down 3.5%; imports were 1.16 trillion yuan, up 2.4%.

 

ASEAN becomes the largest trading partner

In the first quarter, China’s imports and exports to ASEAN reached 991.34 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1%, accounting for 15.1% of China’s total foreign trade. ASEAN became China’s largest trading partner. Imports and exports to the European Union, the United States and Japan fell by 10.4%, 18.3% and 8.1%, respectively.

 

Private enterprise imports and exports decreased by a small margin and increased in proportion

In the first quarter, the import and export of private enterprises was 2.78 trillion yuan, down 2%, accounting for 42.4% of China’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over the same period last year.

 

The proportion of general trade import and export reaches 60%

In the first quarter, China’s general trade imports and exports reached 3.94 trillion yuan, down 5.7%, accounting for 60% of China’s total foreign trade.

 

Mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products are the main export commodities

In the first quarter, China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products were 1.95 trillion yuan, down 11.5%, accounting for 58.5% of the total export value. In the same period, exports of 7 major categories of labor-intensive products such as textiles and garments amounted to 596.98 billion yuan, down 15.3%, accounting for 17.9%.

 

Why can ASEAN replace EU as China’s largest trading partner? On January 31 this year, the United Kingdom formally left the EU, which will have a certain impact on the total trade volume between China and the EU. In the first quarter, superimposing the UK’s “Brexit” factors, ASEAN replaced EU with 115.41 billion yuan to become China’s largest trading partner.

 

Four factors contributed to ASEAN’s ranking:

First, the import and export of integrated circuits between China and ASEAN increased sharply in the first quarter of this year, driving the overall increase in foreign trade between China and ASEAN by 3.3 percentage points. The second is the acceleration of energy cooperation and trade between China and ASEAN, which drove the overall growth of foreign trade between China and ASEAN by 1.7 percentage points. The third is to play a “leading” role in imports and exports to Vietnam and Malaysia, driving China’s overall growth in ASEAN’s foreign trade by 5.6 percentage points. Fourth, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area upgrade “Protocol” came into full effect, which also promoted the growth of agricultural exports to ASEAN.