China’s foreign trade in 2020 broke many historical records.
On January 14, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed that in 2020, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 32.16 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9% over 2019. Among them, exports were 17.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 4%; imports were 14.23 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.7%; the trade surplus was 3.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.4%.
Foreign trade import and export have achieved positive growth for seven consecutive months since June 2020. The annual import, export and total export value both hit record highs, and the international market share also hit a record high. With a good record, China has become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth in trade in goods. In the first 10 months of 2020, my country’s import and export, export, and import international market shares reached 12.8%, 14.2%, and 11.5% respectively, all reaching record highs.
The only major economy in the world to achieve positive trade growth
On January 14, the country At the press conference of the new office, Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, said that in 2020, China became the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth. Its foreign trade imports and exports were significantly better than expected, and the scale of foreign trade hit a new high. All time high.
According to customs statistics, in 2020, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 32.16 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9% over 2019. Among them, exports were 17.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 4%; imports were 14.23 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.7%; the trade surplus was 3.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.4%.
Li Kuiwen pointed out that in 2020, world economic growth and global trade suffered a severe impact, and the external environment for China’s foreign trade development is complex and severe. Under such difficult circumstances, China’s foreign trade import and export has achieved rapid stabilization and continued improvement, demonstrating strong resilience and comprehensive competitiveness. my country’s foreign trade imports and exports have achieved positive growth for seven consecutive months since June 2020. The total value of imports, exports and exports throughout the year has both hit record highs, and its international market share has also hit a record high, making it the only country in the world that has achieved positive growth in goods trade. The status of major economies and the largest country in goods trade has been further consolidated.
According to data published by the WTO and various countries, in the first 10 months of 2020, my country’s import and export, export, and import international market shares reached 12.8%, 14.2%, and 11.5% respectively. This is a significant increase of 0.8, 0.4 and 0.7 percentage points from the historical high respectively, all setting new historical highs.
Europe, the United States and ASEAN are experiencing strong growth
The vitality of foreign trade entities has also continued to increase.
Li Kuiwen introduced that in 2020, there were 531,000 companies with import and export performance, an increase of 6.2%. Among them, the import and export of private enterprises was 14.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.1%, accounting for 46.6% of my country’s total foreign trade value, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from 2019. The status of the largest foreign trade subject has been further consolidated and has become an important force in stabilizing foreign trade. The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 12.44 trillion yuan, accounting for 38.7%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 4.61 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.3%.
Trading partners have become more diverse. In 2020, my country’s top five trading partners are ASEAN, the EU, the United States, Japan and South Korea. The import and export of the above trading partners were 4.74, 4.5, 4.06, 2.2 and 1.97 trillion yuan respectively, with increases of 7%, 5.3% and 8.8 respectively. %, 1.2% and 0.7%. In addition, my country’s imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” were 9.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 1%.
In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald, Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, pointed out that a major change in China’s foreign trade international market this year is that ASEAN has historically become China’s China and ASEAN are each other’s largest trading partners, with close bilateral economic and trade ties and gradual integration of industrial chains. This is because during the epidemic, China and ASEAN had relatively good epidemic prevention and control, and China and ASEAN had good economic and trade complementarity. The upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has deepened mutual cooperation, and the recently passed RCEP will further strengthen mutual ties. .
He said that the European and American markets have always been the main export markets for China’s foreign trade. After the outbreak this year, the European and American industrial chains were severely impacted, and many companies suspended operations. However, China’s epidemic prevention and control Control and resumption of work and production have been relatively good, which has deepened the dependence of the European and American markets on China’s foreign trade.
In addition, under the influence of the epidemic, my country’s ultra-large market advantages have become more obvious, and import demand is stable. In 2020, my country’s imports of resource-based products such as crude oil and metal ores increased by 7.3% and 7% respectively, and imports of agricultural products such as grain and meat increased by 28% and 60.4% respectively.
Exports of textiles such as masks increased by 30.4%
From a product structure perspective, China’s traditional advantageous products Exports continue to grow.
In 2020, my country’s exports of mechanical and electrical products were 10.66 trillion yuan, an increase of 6%, accounting for 59.4% of the total export value, an increase of 1.1 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, exports of notebook computers, household appliances, medical instruments and equipment increased by 20.4%, 24.2% and 41.5% respectively. During the same period, the export of seven major categories of labor-intensive products, including textiles and clothing, was 3.58 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.2%. Among them, the export of textiles including masks was 1.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 30.4%.
It is worth noting that the export of anti-epidemic materials has strongly supported the global fight against the epidemic. China has given full play to its role as the world’s largest supplier of anti-epidemic materials, actively carried out international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic, and done its best to�Provide and export epidemic prevention materials to more than 200 countries and regions around the world. From March 2020 to the end of last year, customs across the country inspected and released exports of major epidemic prevention and control materials worth 438.5 billion yuan, fully demonstrating my country’s image as a responsible country and making important contributions to the global fight against the epidemic. At the same time, exports of notebook computers and other “stay-at-home economy” products were 2.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.5%.
Bai Ming pointed out that the recovery of China’s foreign trade after the epidemic is not a recovery of the entire industry, but that there are obvious industry differentiations. Among them, some equipment such as anti-epidemic materials, ventilators, and furniture are “household products”. Economy”, and exports of electronic products related to the online transformation performed the strongest.
He said that the export of anti-epidemic materials has increased significantly, on the one hand, because China itself is a major producer of anti-epidemic materials. Whether it is masks, protective clothing, or ventilators, China’s production capacity ranks first in the world. in a pivotal position.
On the other hand, after the outbreak, China adopted a responsible attitude and did not restrict the supply of masks, ventilators and other supplies even when domestic epidemic prevention supplies were in short supply. of foreign exports. After the second quarter, China’s production capacity quickly recovered. On the premise of ensuring quality, China introduced many measures to ensure the smooth flow of trade in anti-epidemic materials, which made a huge contribution to foreign anti-epidemic efforts.
The epidemic has had a profound impact on production and lifestyle. Many production and living activities have shifted online, which has led to the “stay-at-home economy” such as laptops, mobile phones, and home appliances. Product demand has increased significantly and promoted the export of related products.
Li Kuiwen introduced that my country’s exports of textiles, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals including masks increased by 31%, driving overall export growth by 1.9 percentage points. my country’s exports of notebook computers, tablet computers, and household appliances increased by 22.1% in total, driving overall export growth by 1.3 percentage points. These export commodities not only meet the needs of global anti-epidemic materials, but also meet the work and consumption needs of people around the world during the epidemic.
Looking forward to this year’s foreign trade situation, Li Kuiwen believes that the world economy is expected to recover to drive trade growth, and the return to steady growth of the domestic economy has also provided strong support for foreign trade development, but at the same time we must also look at It is recognized that there are many uncertainties in the changes in the epidemic and the external environment, and my country’s foreign trade development still faces difficulties and challenges. However, it is believed that as the new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international dual cycles reinforcing each other accelerates, high-level opening up continues to advance, new international cooperation and new competitive advantages continue to form, my country’s foreign trade import and export scale in 2021 It is expected to maintain growth, and the high-quality development of foreign trade is expected to achieve new results. </p
