SCIO briefing on China's imports, exports in Q1 2026

Jinan Times APP:

How is the performance of China's imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries in the first quarter? What new measures have been adopted to advance the BRI cooperation? Thank you.

Wang Jun:

Mr. Lyu will answer your questions.

Lyu Daliang:

Thank you for your questions. At present, China enjoys smooth trade exchanges and close industrial cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries. The scale of imports and exports account for more than half of total foreign trade. In the first quarter of this year, China's imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries exceeded 6 trillion yuan, growing by 14.2%, with exports and imports increasing by 15.1% and 13.2%, respectively.

Our data shows that multidimensional connectivity effectively facilitates the smooth flow of goods. In the first quarter, China's imports and exports with partner countries by water transportation reached 4.08 trillion yuan, growing by 9.8%, accounting for nearly 70% of China's foreign trade with partner countries. The import and export via highway, air, and railway transportation increased by 26.7%, 33.4%, and 23.8% respectively. The new land-sea corridor between Asia and Latin America is operating efficiently, significantly improving regional logistics efficiency. In the first quarter, China's imports and exports with countries such as Peru and Colombia increased by more than 20%, and the Zhengzhou–Luxembourg dual-hub model of air logistics has built the "Air Silk Road" linking China and Europe. In the first quarter, China's imports and exports via air transportation with European Belt and Road partner countries increased by 11.5%.

Our data also shows that project cooperation across multiple sectors has strongly promoted mutual benefit and win-win results. China has actively promoted cooperation in the field of infrastructure with Belt and Road partner countries. In the first quarter, China's exports to Belt and Road partner countries through overseas contracted projects reached 30.51 billion yuan, an increase of 17.5%. Among them, the growth rate of exports of electrical control devices, transformers, wind power generator units, and their parts all exceeded 50%. China has deepened cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries in the agricultural field. In the first quarter, agricultural product imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries reached 336.73 billion yuan, an increase of 21.4%. Chinese enterprises have promoted the model of "contract farming + guaranteed purchasing" in some Belt and Road partner countries, not only facilitating trade exchanges but also helping increase the income of local farmers. Driven by related projects, in the first quarter China's imports of flaxseeds from Kazakhstan and rubber from Laos increased by 86.9% and 23.6% respectively.

Next, guided by the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the customs will further improve port connectivity, the facilitation of customs clearance and security, and promote the import of high-quality agricultural and food products from Belt and Road partner countries. Since this year, we have actively advanced interconnection of "single window" systems and online verification of trade documents with Russia and Thailand. We have signed a mutual recognition arrangement for the "Authorized Economic Operator" (AEO) system with Cuba, held the third working group meeting on China–Zambia AEO mutual recognition cooperation, and signed four customs inspection and quarantine cooperation documents with South Korea. We have conscientiously implemented the outcomes of the Conference on Import & Export Food Safety Cooperation of the Belt and Road (2025), processed registrations of overseas production enterprises, and promoted the import of relevant products as soon as possible, thereby driving common development of partner countries.

Thank you.