Economic Daily:

We have noticed that this year's balance of payments statement includes more detailed data, and that the balance of payments report also describes several improvements in statistical methods. Could you brief us on the latest developments in China's balance of payments statistics? Thank you.

Li Bin:

Our Balance of Payments Department handles these statistics. Mr. Zhao will take this question.

Zhao Yuchao:

Thank you for your interest in the balance of payments statistics. They give a comprehensive picture of China's various cross-border transactions and its external assets and liabilities, and are the main indicator of how the country's foreign-related economy is developing. In recent years, SAFE has kept refining its methodology to improve statistical accuracy and transparency, mainly in the following ways:

First, we have improved the data sources for balance of payments statistics on trade in goods, making the figures more accurate. Balance of payments data on trade in goods previously came mainly from customs statistics. By comparison, balance of payments statistics mainly record the transfer of ownership of goods, which is not quite the same as customs statistics, which record the movement of goods across borders. For example, some overseas companies entrust domestic factories to produce goods that are then sold directly within China. The goods never cross a border, but ownership passes from the overseas company to a domestic entity. Customs does not record this, while the balance of payments has to record it as an import of goods. So from 2022, we changed the data source for trade in goods, relying mainly on figures that enterprises report on the basis of ownership transfer. This is more consistent with balance of payment principles and has been endorsed by the relevant international organizations.

Second, we have optimized the methodology for statistics on trade in services to better reflect the picture in China. This mainly involves two aspects. First, we have improved the methodology for compiling statistics on international transport services. China trades goods on a large scale, and the international transport that goes with it is an important services trade item. In recent years, we have steadily increased the number of companies reporting this data to SAFE, which now exceeds 10,000 and includes the major transport operators. On that basis, in 2025, we changed the data source for transport services statistics to enterprise reporting and industry surveys, which gives a more objective and accurate picture of China's international transport services.

At the same time, statistics on trade in services related to cross-border e-commerce platforms have been improved. In recent years, cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly, and Chinese companies have made extensive use of services provided by overseas e-commerce platforms while meeting the needs of global consumers. After thorough research, we have calculated the service trade data related to Chinese enterprises and overseas e-commerce platforms since 2019, and incorporated it into the international balance of payments data released and updated this year.

That covers content related to the optimization of statistical data. In addition, we have been optimizing the release of data, continuously improving the transparency of international balance of payments statistics, and releasing higher-quality statistical products. At the end of March this year, we added investment income data broken down by investment type to the international balance of payments statement, such as the direct investment income data. New financial account data has been added, categorized by sector and maturity, such as short-term and long-term bond investments and cross-border deposit and loan data for sectors like banking. The International Investment Position statement, which reflects the stock positions, has also provided additional data on external assets and liabilities by sector and by maturity. The release of such granular data can provide a more comprehensive and detailed view of the structure of China's cross-border investment and financing and its external assets and liabilities.

Going forward, SAFE will continue to strengthen innovation in its statistical methods, continuously improve data quality, enrich the supply of statistical products, gradually promote the implementation of the seventh edition of the Integrated Balance of Payments and Investment Position Manual newly released by the IMF, and continuously build a high-level balance of payments statistics system with Chinese characteristics that is in line with international standards. By providing multi-dimensional and high-quality balance of payments data, SAFE will serve China's opening up agenda and better meet the needs of data from all sectors of society. Thank you.