Phoenix TV:

We've noticed that while the global economy is relatively sluggish, the import and export data released by the GACC shows a significant difference in trend compared to various related domestic and foreign economic indicators. For instance, domestic export delivery value or foreign exchange receipts and payments, along with some foreign trade data, all exhibit substantial trend differences. I would like to ask how customs views this issue. Thank you.

Lyu Daliang:

Thank you for your question. Customs statistics are the official statistics of China's import and export goods trade. For a long time, we have strictly implemented the Customs Law, Statistics Law, Regulations on Customs Statistics, regulations on the administration of statistical work in customs, and other associated laws, regulations, and administrative rules. We also adhere to international trade statistics standards. Based on administrative records of customs declarations, we truthfully, objectively, and completely record China's foreign trade import and export activities. In other words, with the backing of the law, rules, standard statistical methods, and administrative records, these two aspects collectively provide customs statistics with full legal assurance and a robust, reliable methodological foundation.

We have also noticed some perspectives on the issue of discrepancies between different economic indicators. Various economic indicators document the process and status of China's economic development from diverse perspectives. The connotations of indicators, statistical calibers, and collection methods vary, leading to both similarities and differences.

Take the export delivery value and export value you just mentioned as examples. Even though both indicators use the term "export," they indeed differ in several ways. First, they have different statistical objects. The former primarily records the value of products that industrial enterprises above designated size self-export, entrust agencies for export, or export through foreign trade departments, while the latter captures the actual value of goods exported by all enterprises. Second, the timing of these statistics is different. The former is based on the actual sales time of industrial enterprises above designated size, while the latter is based on the date of customs clearance. In addition to some other differences, over a longer period, these two types of values generally trend together, but deviations in individual months throughout history are not uncommon.

Statistics on trade in goods in the balance of payments and statistics on customs trade in goods are indeed both important macroeconomic indicators reflecting foreign trade in goods. However, these two types of indicators do differ. First, they follow different statistical standards. The former adopts the statistical standards of the International Monetary Fund, while the latter uses U.N. standards for trade in goods. Second, they have different scopes. The former determines the scope of statistics based on whether ownership of goods has been transferred between residents and non-residents, while the latter determines the scope based on whether goods cross borders. Of course, there are some other differences. For example, take the mobile phone we use. If it's a phone sold domestically after processing with supplied materials, the former would count the total value of the domestically sold phone, while the latter would measure the value of the imported materials.

Regarding the statistical difference between China's imports and exports and its trading partners, the international trade statistics, which can theoretically verify the figures of each, are actually more complicated. Therefore, China has conducted international cooperation on trade statistics with relevant countries and regions and compared the data. This has been an important aspect of our work. In practice, most countries and regions in the world have adopted the statistical standards recommended by the United Nations, with imports calculated based on the countries (regions) of origin and exports on the countries (regions) of destination. In the case of third-party re-exports, the statistical discrepancy between the trading partner countries will lead to relatively big data differences, which is the prime reason for the disparity in bilateral trade statistics. At the same time, the difference between the price statistics also plays a role. For example, exports are calculated at FOB, and imports at CIF. In addition, exchange rate fluctuations, different statistical time, and other objective factors can also lead to statistical differences. 

It is the statutory duty of the customs authorities to compile and publish the statistics on the import and export of goods. We are continuously improving the legal base, standards, and IT application of the statistical systems and methods of the customs authorities, constantly consolidating the cornerstone of the statistical work, and ensures that the data is comprehensive, reliable, and internationally comparable so as to provide better information services for data users. Thank you.