Trend Capture, Foreign Trade Grew By 6.1% in The First Half of The Year, What Will Happen in The Second Half?

In the first half of this year, China's foreign trade data maintained growth. According to the customs statistics released on July 12, the total import and export value of China's goods trade was 21.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.1% year on year. Among them, exports were 12.13 trillion yuan, up 6.9%; imports increased by 5.2% to 9.04 trillion yuan; the trade surplus was 3.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 12%.

Experts pointed out that the trend of foreign trade recovery is driven by multiple factors, including positive changes in the external demand market, which is supported by the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund's expectations for a future global economic upturn. It is expected that there will be optimistic growth in 2024. More importantly, China's foreign trade continues to transform and upgrade towards high quality and new forms due to its significant advantages in industrial chain integration, strong innovation capabilities, and effective implementation of supporting policies.

China's Foreign Trade Achieves 'Better-than-Expected' Results in a Complex Environment

The relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Customs stated that China's import and export trade volume exceeded the 21 trillion mark for the first time in the same period of history and showed a positive growth trend that accelerated quarter by quarter. Specifically, foreign trade grew by 7.4% in the second quarter, which was a significant increase of 2.5 and 5.7 percentage points compared to the first quarter and the fourth quarter of last year respectively, further consolidating the positive trend of foreign trade.

During this period, China's foreign trade not only expanded in scale but also optimized in quality, with the export structure continuing to improve. As the main export products, the growth rate of electromechanical products in the first half of the year reached 8.2%, accounting for nearly 60% of the total export volume, and their competitive advantage is becoming increasingly prominent. Especially in the field of high-tech products, integrated circuits, automobiles, and automatic data processing equipment and their components have performed well, with export growth rates of 25.6%, 22.2%, and 10.3% respectively, highlighting the high-end development path of China's manufacturing industry.

Private Enterprises Take the Lead

Private enterprises continue to play a leading role in China's foreign trade sector, contributing 11.64 trillion yuan of import and export volume in the first half of the year, with a year-on-year growth rate of 11.2%. They account for half of China's foreign trade, making up 55%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points compared with last year, solidifying their position as the primary foreign trade participants. Behind this achievement are the unremitting efforts of Chinese enterprises in product innovation and global market expansion.

For example, our company has successfully enhanced its market competitiveness through the effective combination of technological innovation and cost control, as well as the development of high-performance products with independent patents. We have successfully launched high-performance PVC automotive films, which have won the favor of both new and old customers. While deepening cooperation with mature markets such as India, the company has actively expanded channels and established connections with new customers from Russia, Pakistan, and Southeast Asian countries through major short video platforms at home and abroad, achieving new growth in orders.

Foreign Trade Continuously Releases Momentum

This year's government work report proposes to:

• Promote the quality and quantity of foreign trade to be stable.

• Promote the healthy development of new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce.

• Optimize the layout of overseas warehouses.

• Support the upgrading of processing trade.

• Expand new growth points such as intermediate goods trade and green trade.

To stabilize the cornerstone of foreign trade and stimulate new vitality, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments have jointly issued a series of policy documents, including:

• "Notice on Fully Utilizing the Role of Export Credit Insurance, Solidly Promoting High-quality Trade Development, and Accelerating the Construction of a Strong Trading Nation"

• "Opinions on Expanding Cross-border E-commerce Exports and Promoting the Construction of Overseas Warehouses"

• "Opinions on Strengthening Business and Financial Collaboration and Greater Support for High-quality Development of Cross-border Trade and Investment"

All localities and departments have also responded positively and frequently introduced new policies, aiming to empower foreign trade enterprises, help them enhance their vitality and expand their markets, and jointly promote the stability and quality of foreign trade to a higher level.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, experts anticipate that as global demand recovers and China's new production capacity accelerates, the effects of stable foreign trade policies will be further unleashed, laying a solid foundation for maintaining stability and enhancing quality in foreign trade for the entire year.