The total value of Sino-US trade dropped by 10.3% in the first three quarters

The Information Office of the State Council held a press conference at 10 a.m. on October 14. Li Quiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, introduced the import and export situation in the first three quarters of 2019 and answered questions from reporters.

Li Quiwen said that in the first three quarters, China imported and exported 3.57 trillion yuan and 3.14 trillion yuan to the first two major trading partners, the EU and ASEAN, respectively, increasing by 8.6% and 11.5%, accounting for 15.6% and 13.7% of China's total foreign trade value, respectively. During the same period, the total value of Sino-US trade was 2.75 trillion yuan, down 10.3%, while that of Sino-Japanese trade was 1.58 trillion yuan, up 0.1%. It is particularly necessary to point out that the total amount of imports and exports of the countries along the belt and road has increased by 9.5%, which is 6.7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade in the whole country, accounting for 29% of China's total foreign trade value.

From the point of view of trade mode, the dominant role of general trade is more significant. In the first three quarters, China's general trade imports and exports reached 13.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8%, accounting for 59.5% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports of 7.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7%, and imports of 6.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.7%.

From the perspective of trade countries, the effect of market development has been further enhanced. In the first three quarters, China imported and exported 3.57 trillion yuan and 3.14 trillion yuan to the EU and ASEAN, which accounted for 15.6% and 13.7% of China's total foreign trade, respectively. During the same period, the total value of Sino-US trade was 2.75 trillion yuan, down 10.3%, while that of Sino-Japanese trade was 1.58 trillion yuan, up 0.1%. It is particularly necessary to point out that the total amount of imports and exports of the countries along the belt and road has increased by 9.5%, which is 6.7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade in the whole country, accounting for 29% of China's total foreign trade value.

From the nature of enterprises, the foreign trade vigor of private enterprises is constantly increasing. In the first three quarters, private enterprises imported and exported 9.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.4%, accounting for 42.3% of China's total foreign trade, an increase of 2.9 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports increased by 13% to 6.4 trillion yuan, accounting for 51.3% of the total value of exports; imports increased by 5.9% to 3.29 trillion yuan, accounting for 31.5% of the total value of imports. Over the same period, foreign-funded enterprises imported and exported 9.22 trillion yuan, down 2.9%, accounting for 40.2% of China's total foreign trade value. State-owned enterprises imported and exported 3.93 trillion yuan, down 0.7%. From the perspective of regional development, the regional foreign trade pattern tends to be more optimized. In the first three quarters, the growth rate of foreign trade in 12 provinces and cities in the West was 11.8%, which was 9 percentage points higher than that of the whole country; the growth rate of foreign trade in 6 provinces in the central region was 12.4%, which was 9.6 percentage points higher than that of the whole country. Over the same period, the growth rate of foreign trade in 10 provinces and cities in the East was 1.3%, while that in the three northeast provinces fell by 1.8%.

From the point of view of export commodities, the export of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products increased synchronously. In the first three quarters, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products amounted to 7.25 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7%, accounting for 58.1% of the total export value. Among them, the export of electrical and electronic products was 3.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.2%, and that of machinery and equipment was 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.9%. Over the same period, the total export of seven categories of labor-intensive products, such as clothing and textiles, was 2.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.2%, accounting for 19.4% of the total export value. From the point of view of imports, the imports of crude oil, coal and other commodities increased, while the imports of pork and beef increased greatly. In the first three quarters, China imported 369 million tons of crude oil, an increase of 9.7%, 251 million tons of coal, an increase of 9.5%, and 71.222 million tons of natural gas, an increase of 10%. In addition, the import of iron ore amounted to 784 million tons, a decrease of 2.4%, while soybean amounted to 64.511 million tons, a decrease of 7.9%. During the same period, imported pork was 1.326 million tons, an increase of 43.6%; imported beef was 1.322 million tons, an increase of 53.4%.