The Information Office of the State Council held a press conference at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 to invite Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of customs and director of the statistics and analysis department, to introduce the import and export situation in the first three quarters of 2021 and answer reporters' questions.
Graphic record
Xing Huina (Photo by Luan Haijun)
Xing Huina, deputy director of the information bureau of the Information Office of the State Council and spokesman:
Good morning, media friends. Welcome to the press conference of the Information Office of the State Council. Today, we have a routine release of economic data. We invite Mr. Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of customs and director of the Department of statistics and analysis, to brief you on the import and export situation in the first three quarters of this year and answer your questions of interest.
First of all, let's invite director Li Kuiwen to make an introduction.
Li Kuiwen (Photo by Xu Xiang)
Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of customs and director of statistics and Analysis Department:
Ladies and gentlemen, dear journalists, good morning. Welcome to today's foreign trade press conference. It's a pleasure to meet you again. I will first brief you on China's foreign trade import and export in the first three quarters of this year, and then answer your concerns.
*** According to customs statistics, the total import and export value of China's goods trade in the first three quarters was 28.33 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.7% over the same period last year. Among them, the export was 15.55 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.7%; Imports reached 12.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.6%. Compared with the same period in 2019, China's foreign trade import and export, export and import increased by 23.4%, 24.5% and 22% respectively. The specific analysis has the following six characteristics:
Li Kuiwen:
First, the import and export scale rose quarter by quarter, and the growth rate gradually fell. From a quarterly perspective, the total import and export value in the first quarter, the second quarter and the third quarter of this year was 8.51 trillion yuan, 9.59 trillion yuan and 10.23 trillion yuan respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 29.7%, 25.2% and 15.2% respectively. The growth rate showed a downward trend quarter by quarter. From a monthly perspective, the import and export in September increased by 15.4% year-on-year, down 3.5 percentage points from August.
Second, import and export with major trading partners maintained growth. In the first three quarters, China's import and export to ASEAN amounted to 4.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.1%. ASEAN continues to maintain its position as China's largest trading partner, accounting for 14.4% of China's total foreign trade. Over the same period, imports and exports to the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea were 3.88 trillion yuan, 3.52 trillion yuan, 1.78 trillion yuan and 1.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.5%, 24.9%, 11.2% and 17.3% respectively. In addition, one belt, one road, and RCEP trading partners increased by 23.4% and 19.3% respectively.
Third, the proportion of import and export of general trade increased. In the first three quarters, China's general trade import and export reached 17.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.6%, accounting for 61.8% of China's total foreign trade, an increase of 1.4 percentage points over the same period last year; Among them, the export was 9.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.5%; Imports reached 8.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.7%. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade reached 6.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.7%, accounting for 21.4%.
Li Kuiwen:
Fourth, the vitality of foreign trade business entities has been enhanced. In the first three quarters of this year, China's import and export enterprises reached 526700, an increase of 34000 year-on-year. Among them, the import and export of private enterprises was 13.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.5%, accounting for 48.2% of China's total foreign trade. Over the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises reached 10.22 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.7%; The import and export of state-owned enterprises reached 4.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.1%.
Fifth, the export of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products increased. In the first three quarters, China's export of mechanical and electrical products was 9.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 23%, 0.3 percentage points higher than the overall export growth, accounting for 58.8% of the total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its parts, mobile phones and automobiles increased by 12%, 14.4% and 107% respectively. Over the same period, the export of labor-intensive products increased by 9.5%; Pharmaceutical materials and drugs increased by 108%.
Sixth, the import volume of some bulk commodities decreased and prices increased. In the first three quarters, the import and export freight volume supervised by the Customs was 3.74 billion tons, an increase of 3%, of which 2.43 billion tons were imported, a decrease of 0.5%. Specifically, China imported 842 million tons of iron ore, a decrease of 3%, with an average price of 1159.8 yuan per ton, an increase of 67.5%; Crude oil was 387 million tons, a decrease of 6.8%, and the average price was 3082.5 yuan per ton, an increase of 32.8%; Natural gas was 89.852 million tons, an increase of 22.2%, and the average price was 2491.9 yuan per ton, an increase of 5.1%; 73.973 million tons of soybeans, a decrease of 0.7%, and the average price of 3509.8 yuan per ton, an increase of 29.4%; Copper was 4019000 tons, a decrease of 19.5%, and the average price was 60400 yuan per ton, an increase of 37.9%.
On the whole, since the beginning of this year, the foundation for the steady and qualitative improvement of China's foreign trade has been further consolidated. At the same time, we should also see that the global epidemic is volatile, the world economy is difficult to recover, the external environment is more complex and severe, and there are still many unstable and uncertain factors facing China's foreign trade development. *** Boost the high-quality development and high-level opening of foreign trade.
Next, I would like to answer your questions.
Xing Huina:
Thank director Li for his introduction. Now you can start asking questions. Please inform your news organization before asking questions.
CCTV reporter of China Central Radio and television:
Since this year, China's foreign trade has maintained a rapid double-digit growth. What do you think is the main reason for the growth of China's foreign trade in the first three quarters? In addition, we have also noticed that although foreign trade has maintained a rapid growth, at present, the growth rate has dropped. What do you predict about the trend of foreign trade in the next fourth quarter? Please interpret it. thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In the first three quarters of this year, China's foreign trade import and export continued to maintain rapid growth, with sufficient toughness and stable quality improvement. We believe that the current factors supporting China's foreign trade growth are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, the domestic economy continued to recover and develop, laying a solid foundation for the sustained growth of foreign trade. In the first eight months of this year, the added value of industries above Designated Size, the total retail sales of social consumer goods, investment in fixed assets and other major economic indicators maintained rapid growth. The long-term fundamentals of China's economy have not changed, and the steady domestic production and consumption demand have provided strong support for the growth of foreign trade.
Second, the global economy and trade have warmed up, and the increase in international market demand is good for China's exports. Recently, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the global economic growth rate would be 5.9% in 2021, and the World Trade Organization predicted that the global trade in goods would increase by 10.8% this year. In the first three quarters, China's export growth to the United States, the European Union and Africa exceeded 20%, and that to Latin America exceeded 40%.
Third, the rise in international commodity prices has become an important factor driving up the import value. As of mid October, the Reuters CRB index, which reflects commodity prices in the international market, has risen by more than 40% compared with the end of last year and more than 130% compared with the lowest point of last year. In the first three quarters of this year, affected by the rise in international commodity prices, China's import prices increased by 11.3% year-on-year, of which the average import prices of iron ore, crude oil, copper and other commodities increased by more than 30%.
Fourth, the effect of China's foreign trade steady growth policy continued to show. Since this year, China has issued a series of policies and measures to support the steady growth of foreign trade, accelerate the development of new forms and models of foreign trade, further deepen the reform of cross-border trade facilitation, optimize the business environment at ports, and promote the reform and innovation of trade and investment facilitation in the pilot free trade zone. The General Administration of Customs resolutely implements the work deployment of "six stabilities" and "six guarantees", comprehensively promotes the epidemic prevention and control at ports and promotes the steady growth of foreign trade, strengthens supervision, optimizes services, deepens reform and innovation, continuously optimizes the business environment at ports, relieves difficulties for foreign trade enterprises and promotes the steady improvement of foreign trade volume and quality. The release of the effects of this series of stable foreign trade policies has not only boosted the confidence of enterprises, boosted the "acceleration" of foreign trade, but also injected strong vitality into building a new advantage of China's opening to the outside world.
About the future import and export trend you mentioned. We believe that, on the whole, there are many favorable and unfavorable factors affecting the development of foreign trade. On the one hand, the long-term fundamentals of China's economy have not changed, and the development trend of steady increase in foreign trade volume and quality has been well supported. On the other hand, the global epidemic fluctuates, the world economy recovers hard, the external environment becomes more complex and severe, and China's foreign trade development still faces many unstable and uncertain factors. According to the customs data, the year-on-year growth rates of China's import and export in the first, second and third quarters of this year were 29.7%, 25.2% and 15.2% respectively, showing a gradual downward trend. Considering the impact of the high base of foreign trade in 2020, the growth rate of import and export may fall in the fourth quarter of this year, but the overall good trend of China's foreign trade will not change, and it is still expected to achieve rapid growth throughout the year. thank you.
Cover reporter:
We have noted that in the face of the impact of the epidemic, China's foreign trade import and export still achieved rapid growth in the first three quarters. What are the main aspects of the high-quality development of China's foreign trade since this year? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In the first three quarters of this year, China's foreign trade import and export continued to maintain a rapid growth trend, and new achievements were made in the high-quality development of foreign trade. It is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, increase the international market share. In the first three quarters, the scale of China's foreign trade import and export increased quarter by quarter, reaching 8.51 trillion yuan, 9.59 trillion yuan and 10.23 trillion yuan respectively. China's foreign trade is leading among the world's major economies, which is also reflected in the improvement of international market share. According to the latest data, in the first half of this year, the international market shares of China's import and export, export and import were about 13.2%, 14.5% and 12% respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 0.8, 0.9 and 0.8 percentage points respectively. China continues to maintain its position as the largest country in goods trade.
Second, the role of high-level open platforms has been enhanced. In the first three quarters, the import and export of China's Comprehensive Bonded Zone reached 4.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.3%, 3.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate; The import and export of the pilot free trade zone was 4.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.6%; The amount of duty-free shopping in Hainan outlying islands was 35.54 billion yuan, an increase of 120.8%.
Third, new business forms and new models are booming. Since this year, China's policies and measures to promote the healthy, sustainable and innovative development of new forms and models of foreign trade have been effective. Data show that in the first three quarters of this year, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export increased by 20.1%, and market procurement and export increased by 37.7%.
Fourth, the regional layout is more coordinated. The foreign trade of the eastern region performed well, and the import and export increased by 21.8% in the first three quarters, providing stable support for the growth of China's foreign trade. The import and export of the central and western regions grew rapidly. In the first three quarters, the import and export reached 4.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.2%, 4.5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of China's foreign trade in the same period, accounting for 17.5% of China's total foreign trade import and export value.
Fifth, export growth has sufficient momentum. In the first three quarters, China's export of intermediate products increased by 29.2%, driving the export growth by 13.2 percentage points, which effectively supported the smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain. Over the same period, the export of mechanical and electrical products increased by 23%, accounting for 0.1 percentage points. The export of some labor-intensive products maintained a rapid growth momentum, such as toys, furniture and bags increased by 34.6%, 27.9% and 25.7% respectively.
thank you.
Red Star reporter:
We have noticed that since this year, the growth rate of foreign trade in the central and western regions has been faster than that of the whole. What are the main factors driving it? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In the first three quarters of this year, the import and export of China's central and western regions reached 4.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.2%, 4.5 percentage points higher than the national foreign trade growth rate in the same period, accounting for 17.5% of the national import and export in the same period, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Among them, the import and export growth of Henan, Hubei and other provinces exceeded 30%. We believe that the main factors driving the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions are as follows:
First, private enterprises are the main force to promote the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions. In the first three quarters, the import and export of private enterprises in the central and western regions reached 2.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 35%, 7.8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of import and export in the central and western regions, accounting for 2.9 percentage points of import and export in the central and Western regions, reaching 50.5%, and contributing 61.1% to the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions in the same period.
Second, the supporting role of electronic equipment manufacturing industry is prominent. In the first three quarters, the import and export of computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry in the central and western regions reached 2.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 25%, accounting for 40.6% of the total import and export value of the central and western regions in the same period, and the contribution rate to the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions reached 38%. It is worth mentioning that the semiconductor industry in the central and western regions accelerated its development. In the first three quarters, the import of semiconductor manufacturing equipment was 72.2 billion yuan, an increase of 31.3%, accounting for 44.3% of the national total import value of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the same period, promoting the extension of the industrial chain of electronic equipment manufacturing industry in the central and western regions.
Three, the central one helps to develop one belt, one road and the other. According to the latest data of China Railway Group, in the first three quarters, China Europe trains opened 11300 trains and sent 1093000 TEUs, an increase of 29% and 37% respectively. One belt, one road, and the other 1 trillion and 560 billion countries, the central and western regions increased by 21.8% in the first three quarters, accounting for 18.8% of the total value of imports and exports of the countries along the same period. Among them, the import and export of railway transportation to countries along the line increased by 21.8%.
Fourth, the high-level open platform in the central and western regions has an obvious pulling effect. In the first three quarters, the import and export of the comprehensive bonded areas in the central and western regions reached 1.82 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.9%, and the contribution rate to the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions reached 41.5%. Among them, among the top 10 comprehensive bonded zones with import and export value in China, the central and western regions occupy 5 seats. thank you.
China News Agency reporter:
The fourth China International Import Expo will be held next month. What are the main characteristics of China's import since this year? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In the first three quarters, China's imports mainly had the following characteristics:
First, the import scale reached a record high in the same period. According to customs statistics, in the first three quarters, China's imports amounted to 12.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.6%, an increase of 22% compared with the same period in 2019. China's strong domestic market has contributed to the creation of global aggregate demand.
Second, imports from major independent trading partners maintained a high growth rate. In the first three quarters, China imported 1.84 trillion yuan, 1.5 trillion yuan and 852.41 billion yuan from ASEAN, the European Union and the United States, an increase of 22.7%, 18.4% and 32.6% respectively; Since the "one belt, one road", the total number of imports has increased by 24.5% yuan, up 3 trillion and 620 billion yuan, and the growth rate is higher than the total growth rate of China's imports in the same period of 1.9 percentage points.
Third, the import of some consumer goods grew rapidly. In the first three quarters, China imported a total of 1.29 trillion yuan of consumer goods, an increase of 14.7%, accounting for 10.1% of the total import value. Among them, the import of passenger cars was 265.04 billion yuan, an increase of 31.5%, and the import of jewelry, watches and bags increased by 63.5%, 42.1% and 55.8% respectively.
Fourth, the import prices of major commodities rose. In the first three quarters, the average import prices of iron ore, crude oil, copper, natural gas and soybean increased by 67.5%, 32.8%, 37.9%, 5.1% and 29.4% respectively year-on-year.
thank you.
Surging reporter:
Since RCEP is about to be implemented, how does the General Administration of Customs predict the situation of China's foreign trade import and export after RCEP takes effect, and what measures will be taken to adapt to RCEP? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In the first three quarters of this year, the total value of China's imports and exports to 14 other RCEP member countries was 8.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.3%, accounting for 31.1% of China's total foreign trade. Among them, the export was 4.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 18%; Imports reached 4.75 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.4%. For other relevant information about RCEP, please refer to the relevant competent authorities. thank you.
Global Times reporter:
For some time, commodity prices have continued to rise, and China's imports have also increased. Will the General Administration of customs have more detailed and up-to-date data to publish, and will this trend be adjusted in the third quarter? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. Since the second half of last year, due to the comprehensive influence of various factors such as the restorative growth of global economic and trade demand from the epidemic, global liquidity quantitative easing, strong fiscal and financial stimulus policies adopted by some developed economies, and speculation, the prices of some bulk commodities in the international market have shown a rapid upward trend. The price fluctuation in the international market is also reflected in the import link, which is also mentioned in the relevant data I just released. Customs statistics show that from the perspective of the average import price, since this year, the average import price of crude oil, natural gas, steel and other commodities has increased year-on-year, with an increase of 32.8%, 5.1% and 43.6% respectively. More detailed data you need can be queried on the portal of the General Administration of customs. thank you.
Xinhua News Agency:
The spokesman just mentioned that in the first three quarters, ASEAN continued to be China's largest trading partner. What is the reason why China ASEAN trade can still maintain rapid growth under the recent epidemic situation in Southeast Asia? How do you view the trend of trade with ASEAN this year? In addition, some time ago, the customs also released the China ASEAN trade index. Can you give us some information?
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. Over the past 30 years since China and ASEAN established dialogue relations, bilateral economic and trade relations have achieved leapfrog development. In the first three quarters of this year, China's import and export to ASEAN reached 4.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.1%. ASEAN continued to maintain its position as China's largest trading partner. Among them, the export was 2.24 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.9%, and the import was 1.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.7%. The main reasons for the rapid growth of China's trade with ASEAN are as follows:
First, anti epidemic cooperation continued to deepen to ensure smooth bilateral economic and trade exchanges. China continues to provide support and assistance to relevant ASEAN countries in combating the epidemic in the supply of medical materials, vaccine production, R & D and use, and increases cooperation with ASEAN in economic fields related to the comprehensive recovery framework. Under the situation of normalization of the epidemic, China will accelerate the establishment of a "fast track" network for China ASEAN personnel and a "green channel" network for goods, so as to ensure the smooth flow of regional industrial and supply chains, Promote the sustained growth of bilateral trade. In addition, the trains of the new land and sea channel in the West are connected with the trains of China Europe in a normal way. According to relevant data, in the first three quarters, 4505 sea rail intermodal trains were operated in the new land sea channel in the west, a year-on-year increase of 42%, and 226000 TEUs were sent, an increase of 41.9%.
Second, regional economic integration has been further promoted, boosting economic and trade cooperation to a new level. With the continuous release of the policy dividends of the China ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and its upgrading protocol, the construction of regional connectivity, the China ASEAN Eastern growth area and the Lancang Mekong cross-border economic cooperation zone have been accelerated, the regional economy has been continuously integrated, the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation has been continuously improved, and the sense of gain and benefit of both sides have been further enhanced. In the first three quarters, China's imports and exports to Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia increased by 19.1%, 23.6%, 25.4% and 41.5% respectively, driving the import and export growth of China and ASEAN by 18.3 percentage points.
Third, the complementary trade structure has been continuously consolidated, driving the steady growth of import and export. On the one hand, with the further expansion of consumer demand in the domestic market, China's import demand for ASEAN metal mines, ore and agricultural products is strong. The import value in the first three quarters increased by 35.9% and 29.7% respectively, driving the import growth by 3.4 percentage points. On the other hand, since the epidemic, China's exports of automobiles and laptops to ASEAN have performed well, with export values increasing by 71.6% and 30.2% respectively, driving export growth by 0.7 percentage points in total.
You just mentioned the China ASEAN trade index, which is the latest product of the General Administration of Customs to carry out statistical services. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China ASEAN dialogue relations. In order to better display the achievements of China ASEAN trade development, fully tap the potential of cooperation and promote the high-quality development of bilateral trade, the General Administration of customs and the government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region jointly compiled the China ASEAN trade index. On September 11 this year, we released it for the first time during the 18th China ASEAN Expo, It has aroused widespread concern from all walks of life. Here I'll give you the relevant data. In 2020, the China ASEAN trade index was 241.09 points, up 19.64% over 2019 and 141.09% over 2010, indicating that China's import and export trade with ASEAN continued to grow steadily. Next, China Customs will continue to deepen the construction of China ASEAN trade index, release the latest index during the annual China ASEAN Expo, provide richer and more kinds of data and information services, and strive to contribute more customs wisdom and customs strength to promoting the economic and trade development of China ASEAN countries. thank you.
Xing Huina:
Please continue to ask questions.
Hong Kong now broadband TV reporter:
The supply and demand of electricity and coal are relatively tight, and some local governments implemented power restriction policies last month. What are the impacts and challenges of relevant policies on domestic exports and economic growth? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. We are concerned about relevant information and the rise in the price of raw materials, including energy products. We are constantly observing and analyzing the impact of these situations on China's foreign trade import and export. thank you.
First financial TV reporter:
I am concerned that the import of some commodities has decreased, especially copper, which has decreased by 15%. What do you think of the price trend of some commodities in the next step and its impact on the next step of import? In addition, with regard to the issue of international transport capacity, does the lack of international transport capacity have any impact on imports and exports in the third quarter? thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
I have answered the first question just now. As for the impact of commodity price fluctuations, the relevant data released by us also include the specific situation of imports just mentioned. I have made corresponding interpretation and Analysis on the relevant data.
On your second question, we believe that with the continuous spread of the global epidemic, China's foreign trade is actively serving the anti epidemic work of various countries, ensuring the production and living needs, and supporting the smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain. However, as you just mentioned, the rebound of overseas epidemic has also led to serious congestion in some overseas ports, poor international logistics supply chain, sharp decline in ship operation efficiency and empty container turnover, resulting in tight transport capacity of relevant routes and imbalance between supply and demand. It is understood that in view of this situation, the relevant departments have recently done a lot of work to alleviate the tension of transportation capacity. Please ask relevant departments for further information. thank you.
Xing Huina:
Today is the first economic data release of the third quarter, and a series of subsequent releases will be made. You can continue to pay attention to our press conference. That's all for today's press conference. Thank director Li and all media friends.
新闻来源：国新网发布时间：2021-10-13
Market trends please pay attention to official account.
