Speakers:
Mr. Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)
Mr. Lyu Daliang, spokesperson of the GACC and director general of the Department of Statistics and Analysis of the GACC
Chairperson:
Ms. Shou Xiaoli, deputy director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO
Date:
April 12, 2024
Shou Xiaoli:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). Today, we will conduct a routine release of economic data from the first quarter of this year. We are very pleased to be joined by Mr. Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), and Mr. Lyu Daliang, spokesperson of the GACC and director general of the Department of Statistics and Analysis of the GACC, who will brief you on China's import and export performance in the first quarter of 2024, and also take your questions.
Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Wang.
Wang Lingjun:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It is my pleasure to meet with you again. Welcome everyone to today's press conference. I will start by briefing you about China's import and export performance in the first quarter of this year, and then my colleague and I will take your questions.
In the first quarter of this year, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. It has also worked to fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, moved faster to create a new pattern of development, and thoroughly promoted high-quality development. As a result, the national economy has sustained its recovery momentum, making steady improvements in the quality of foreign trade and new milestones in the scale of imports and exports. Specifically, the country's foreign trade in the first quarter has the following five features:
First, China's scale of foreign trade during the January-March period exceeded 10 trillion yuan (about $1.38 trillion) for the first time in history, while the growth rate hit a six-quarter high. Customs statistics show that in the first quarter of the year, the country's foreign trade in goods stood at 10.17 trillion yuan, up 5% year on year. Specifically, exports from China increased 4.9% year on year to 5.74 trillion yuan, while imports rose 5% year on year to 4.43 trillion yuan, 4.1 and 2.3 percentage points faster than the growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2023, respectively.
Second, China's trade with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries and other BRICS countries grew at a rate higher than the overall level. From January-March, the country's trade with BRI partner countries reached 4.82 trillion yuan, up 5.5% year on year, accounting for 47.4% of total foreign trade volume, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Notably, trade with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased 6.4% year on year to 1.6 trillion yuan. Trade with the nine other BRICS nations reached 1.49 trillion yuan during the same period, up 11.3% year on year, accounting for 14.7% of the country's total foreign trade volume. In addition, trade with the European Union, the United States, South Korea and Japan hit 1.27 trillion yuan, 1.07 trillion yuan, 535.48 billion yuan and 518.2 billion yuan, accounting for a combined share of 33.4% of the total.
Third, the imports and exports of private businesses in China sustained double-digit growth. In the first quarter of the year, the foreign trade value of the country's private businesses reached 5.53 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7% over the same period last year, accounting for 54.3% of the country's total. Concurrently, the imports and exports of foreign investors in the country stood at 2.97 trillion yuan, accounting for 29.3% of the total, while that of state-owned enterprises stood at 1.64 trillion yuan, accounting for 16.1%.
Fourth, China's exports of machinery and electronic products as well as labor-intensive products witnessed robust growth momentum. During the January-March period, the country's export value of machinery and electronic products expanded 6.8% year on year to 3.39 trillion yuan, accounting for 59.2% of the total. Among this, the exports of computers and computer components, vehicles and ships saw year-on-year increases of 8.6%, 21.7% and 113.1%, respectively. In addition, the exports of labor-intensive products amounted to 975.72 billion yuan, up 9.1% over the same period last year. Within this category, exports of textiles and garments, plastic products, as well as furniture and furniture parts grew by 5.4%, 14% and 23.5% year on year, respectively.
Fifth, the imports of major commodities and consumer goods related to people's livelihoods expanded steadily. In the first quarter of this year, the country's imports of major commodities, including energy resources, metal ores and grain increased 6.2% year on year. Among them, the imports of energy products such as crude oil, natural gas and coal grew 8% year on year to 286 million metric tons; and metal ores like iron and aluminum increased 5% to 374 million metric tons. Grain imports amounted to 38.42 million metric tons, up 5.1% year on year. Concurrently, the imports of machinery and electronic products expanded 9.6% year on year. Among them, the imports of electronic components rose 13%. Meanwhile, imports of textiles and garments as well as dried and fresh fruits and nuts expanded 12.6% and 18%, respectively.
Overall, China's foreign trade got off to a robust and promising start in the first quarter of the year, laying a solid foundation for meeting the annual target of steadily increasing the volume and raising the quality of foreign trade. Currently, the international environment is undergoing profound changes, and the global economy is facing multiple grave challenges, all of which will pose greater tests to China's foreign trade. However, at the same time, we should also acknowledge that the country's overall economy continues improving; its comprehensive competitiveness in foreign trade keeps strengthening; and its sound growth momentum in imports and exports is being further consolidated.
Customs authorities bear the responsibility of safeguarding borders and driving development. We will work under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and earnestly act on the decisions of the Central Economic Work Conference and the government work report. We will adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. By enhancing the construction of Smart Customs and leveraging its enabling role in building China's strength in customs services, we will ramp up efforts to optimize the business environment at ports, facilitate cross-border commerce, and steadily increase the volume and quality of foreign trade. Through these efforts, we aim to play our part in achieving the annual socioeconomic growth targets and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with significant accomplishments.
