Since the beginning of this year, in the face of profound changes in the external environment, the Ministry of Commerce, together with various regions and departments, has fully implemented the decision-making arrangements for stabilizing foreign trade. In the first quarter of 2019, imports and exports showed a steady and improved trend. According to customs statistics, the import and export in the first quarter was 7.01 trillion yuan, up 3.7% year-on-year. Among them, exports were 3.77 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.7%; Imports were 3.24 trillion yuan, up by 0.3%; The surplus was 529.67 billion yuan, an increase of 75.2% (according to US dollar statistics, China’s total import and export value in the first quarter was 1.03 trillion US dollars, down 1.5%. Among them, the export was 551.76 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.4%; Imports reached US$ 475.45 billion, down 4.8%; The trade surplus was $76.31 billion, an increase of 70.6%). Continuous optimization of trade structure:
The international market layout is more diversified.The growth rate of imports and exports of countries along the Belt and Road was 4.1 percentage points higher than that of the whole, and the proportion increased by 1.1 percentage points to 28.6%. Imports and exports with BRICS countries increased by 10.2%. From a country perspective, China’s exports to major markets such as the European Union, ASEAN, Japan, South Korea and Russia increased by 14.4%, 15.6%, 8.0%, 11.2% and 9.1% respectively. My exports and imports to the United States decreased by 3.7% and 28.3% respectively.
The domestic regional layout is more balanced.Exports from the central and western regions increased by 15.6%, and the proportion increased by 1.2 percentage points to 17.6%. Exports from the eastern region reached 3.11 trillion yuan, up by 5.0%.
The vitality of all business entities is stimulated. Private enterprises continued to maintain their position as the largest business entity in export, with exports reaching 1.86 trillion yuan, up by 13.8%, and the proportion increased by 3.1 percentage points to 49.3%. Foreign-invested enterprises exported 1.54 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.6%. State-owned enterprises exported 372.1 billion yuan, down 3.6%.
The commodity structure has been continuously upgraded.The export of mechanical and electrical products was 2.21 trillion yuan, up 5.4%, accounting for 58.8% of the total export value. Among them, exports of computers and components, integrated circuits, automobiles and chassis, motors and generators increased by 7.3%, 25.2%, 15.2% and 12.5% respectively. The export of seven categories of labor-intensive products, such as toys, plastic products and textiles, was 685.53 billion yuan, an increase of 6.5%. Ten categories of commodities such as crude oil, iron ore and natural gas imported a total of 836.77 billion yuan, up by 6.1%, driving import growth by 1.5 percentage points.
The mode of trade was further optimized.General trade exports amounted to 2.20 trillion yuan, up by 11.7%, and the proportion increased by 2.6 percentage points to 58.5%. The export of processing trade was 1.14 trillion yuan, down by 0.6%.
Since the beginning of this year, a series of policies and measures such as national tax reduction and fee reduction have been accelerated, which has provided strong support for enterprises to stabilize their confidence and steady growth of foreign trade. At the same time, however, the growth rate of global economic and trade has slowed down significantly, and the WTO has greatly lowered its forecast for the growth of global trade volume to 2.6%, and exports are facing greater downward pressure.
In the next step, guided by Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, the Ministry of Commerce will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, continue to pay close attention to the implementation of stable foreign trade policies, actively explore diversified markets, optimize the layout of the international market, continuously improve the level of trade facilitation, and strive to promote the high-quality development of foreign trade.