China’s import and export situation in the first quarter of 2024

The scale of import and export exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time in history during the same period

The scale of import and export exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time in history during the same period, and the growth rate of import and export hit a new high in six quarters. According to customs statistics, in the first quarter, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 10.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%. Among them, exports were 5.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%; imports were 4.43 trillion yuan, an increase of 5%; exports and imports accelerated by 4.1 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points respectively compared with the fourth quarter of last year.

Private enterprises account for “half” of total import and export value

The import and export of private enterprises maintained double-digit growth. In the first quarter, my country’s private enterprises imported and exported 5.53 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7%, accounting for 54.3% of the total import and export value, half of the country. During the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 2.97 trillion yuan, accounting for 29.3%; the import and export of state-owned enterprises was 1.64 trillion yuan, accounting for 16.1%.

Judging from the number of operating entities, for every 10 foreign trade enterprises with import and export records, almost 9 are private enterprises. In terms of growth rate, the export and import growth rates of private enterprises were 4.8 percentage points and 7.8 percentage points faster than the overall rate respectively. The proportion of import and export scale in my country’s total import and export value increased to 54.3%, stabilizing the main position of foreign trade and continuing to consolidate.

Private enterprises are the new force leading innovation and creation. They have become the largest import and export entities of high-tech products in my country. In the first quarter, the import and export of high-tech products increased by 16.2%, which is 12.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of similar products. Among them, ships and marine engineering equipment, Exports of rail transit equipment increased by 90.5% and 24.9% respectively, and imports of high-end machine tools increased by 14.8%, making important contributions to the acceleration and accumulation of new productive forces in the field of foreign trade.

Imports of bulk commodities and consumer goods are steadily expanding

Imports of bulk commodities and consumer goods have steadily expanded. In the first quarter, my country’s imports of energy, metal ores, grain and other bulk commodities increased by 6.2%. Among them, energy products such as crude oil, natural gas and coal were 286 million tons, an increase of 8%; iron, aluminum and other metal ores were 374 million tons, an increase of 5%; grain were 38.416 million tons, an increase of 5.1%. During the same period, imports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 9.6%, of which imports of electronic components increased by 13%. In addition, imports of textiles and clothing, dried and fresh fruits and nuts increased by 12.6% and 18% respectively.

The import and export scale of state-owned enterprises reached the highest level in the same period in history

In the first quarter, the number of foreign trade companies with import and export performance increased by 8.8% year-on-year. The number of private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises increased by 10.4% and 1% respectively, and the import and export scale of state-owned enterprises reached the highest level in the same period in history.