China's imports and exports rise by 5.8% in first four months of 2023

In the first four months of 2023, China's total value of imports and exports rose by 5.8 percent year on year (the same below) to reach 13.32 trillion yuan. Among them, exports grew 10.6 percent to 7.67 trillion yuan while imports rose 0.02 percent to 5.65 trillion yuan, with the trade surplus increasing by 56.7 percent to 2.02 trillion yuan. In U.S. dollar terms, the total value of China's imports and exports came in at 1.94 trillion U.S. dollars during the four-month period, down 1.9 percent. Among them, exports were 1.12 trillion U.S. dollars, up 2.5 percent, while imports were 822.76 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.3 percent, with the trade surplus expanding 45% to 294.19 billion yuan.

In April this year, China's imports and exports stood at 3.43 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9 percent, with exports growing by 16.8 percent to 2.02 trillion yuan and imports dropping by 0.8 percent to 1.41 trillion yuan, marking a trade surplus of 618.44 billion yuan, up 96.5 percent. In U.S. dollar terms, the total value of China's imports and exports rose by 1.1 percent to reach 500.63 billion U.S. dollars in April. Among them, exports were 295.42 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.5 percent, while imports were 205.21 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.9 percent, indicating a trade surplus of 90.21 billion U.S. dollars, expanding 82.3 percent.

The proportion of general imports and exports increased

In the first four months, China's general imports and exports rose by 8.5 percent to reach 8.72 trillion yuan, accounting for 65.4 percent of the total foreign trade value of China, and representing an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports grew by 14.1 percent to 5.01 trillion yuan, while imports increased by 1.8 percent to 3.71 trillion yuan.

Imports and exports to ASEAN and the European Union increased, while those to the United States and Japan declined

In the first four months, ASEAN was China's largest trading partner, and the total value of China’s trade with ASEAN was 2.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.9 percent, accounting for 15.7 percent of China's total foreign trade value.

China's imports and exports to the European Union, the second largest trading partner of China, grew by 4.2 percent to 1.8 trillion yuan, accounting for 13.5 percent of China's total foreign trade value.

The United States is third largest trading partner of China, and China’s total value of trade with United States was 1.5 trillion yuan during this four-month period, down 4.2 percent, accounting for 11.2 percent of China's total foreign trade value. 

Japan is the fourth largest trading partner of China, and China’s total value of trade with Japan was 731.66 billion yuan during this four-month period, down 2.6 percent, accounting for 5.5 percent of China's total foreign trade value. 

From January to April 2023, China's imports and exports with economies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative surged 16 percent to 4.61 trillion yuan. Among them, exports were 2.76 trillion yuan, up 26 percent; imports were 1.85 trillion yuan, up 3.8 percent.

The proportion of private enterprises' import and export exceeded 50%

In the first four months, the imports and exports undertaken by private enterprises increased by 15.8 percent to 7.05 trillion yuan, accounting for 52.9 percent of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 4.6 percentage points over the same period last year.

The total import and export value of state-owned enterprises was 2.18 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.7 percent, accounting for 16.4 percent of China's total foreign trade value.

In the same period, foreign-invested enterprises imported and exported 4.06 trillion yuan, down 8.2 percent, accounting for 30.5 percent of China's total foreign trade value.

The export of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products increased

In the first four months, China exported 4.44 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 10.5%, accounting for 57.9% of the total export value. In the same period, the export of labor-intensive products was 1.31 trillion yuan, up 8.8%, accounting for 17.1% of the total export value.

Imports of iron ore, crude oil and coal increased in volume and decreased in price

Imports of natural gas decreased in volume and increased in price

Soybean imports rise both in volume and price

In the first four months, China imported 385 million tons of iron ore, up 8.6 percent, with an average import price (the same below) of 781.4 yuan per ton, down 4.6 percent; 179 million tons of crude oil at an average price of 4,017.7 yuan per ton, an increase of 4.6 percent in volume and a decrease of 8.9 percent in price; 142 million ton of coal at an average price of 897.5 yuan per ton, a surge of 88.8 percent in volume and a drop of 11.8 percent in price.

In the same period, natural gas imports reached 35.687 million tons, down 0.3 percent, with an average price of 4,151 yuan per ton, up 8 percent.

In addition, soybean imports came in at 30.286 million tons, up 6.8 percent, with an average price of 4,559.8 yuan per ton, up 14.1 percent. 

The imported plastics in primary forms were 9.511 million tons, down 7.6 percent, with an average price of 10,800 yuan, up 10.8 percent; the imports of unwrought copper and copper products were 1.695 million tons, down 12.6 percent, with an average price of 61,000 yuan per ton, down 5.8 percent. 

During the same period, imports of mechanical and electrical products amounted to 1.93 trillion yuan, down 14.4 percent. Among them, 146.84 billion pieces of integrated circuits were imported, totaling 724.08 billion yuan, down 21.1 percent and 19.8 percent in both volume and value; the number of imported automobiles was 225,000, down 28.9 percent, valued at 100.41 billion yuan, down 21.6 percent.