China's foreign trade continues to show upward momentum

This aerial photo taken on Nov. 24, 2023 shows a container vessel setting off from the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade has continued to show upward momentum since the start of the fourth quarter of 2023 as positive factors constantly accumulated amid steady economic recovery, according to the data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) Thursday.

The country's total foreign trade value logged positive year-on-year growth for two consecutive months, GAC official Lyu Daliang said, noting that the sector continued to consolidate the momentum of stable and sound development.

In November, the data showed that China's total goods imports and exports expanded 1.2 percent year on year. The growth pace is 0.3 percentage points faster than that registered in October.

With a total foreign trade value of 3.7 trillion yuan (about 519.84 billion U.S. dollars) last month, the country's exports grew 1.7 percent year on year to 2.1 trillion yuan, while imports edged up 0.6 percent from one year earlier to 1.6 trillion yuan.

During the January-November period, the country's foreign trade stayed unchanged compared to one year earlier, at 37.96 trillion yuan, according to the data.

China has strengthened trade partnerships with not only the largest economies in the world but also emerging markets, including those in Africa and Central Asia, in the first 11 months.

During the period, China's trade with its largest trade partner, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), rose 0.1 percent year on year to 5.8 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.3 percent of the country's total trade value.

According to the data, China's imports from its second-largest trade partner, the European Union (EU), grew 5 percent to 1.81 trillion yuan during the period, while its trade surplus with the EU narrowed by 16.7 percent to 1.41 trillion yuan.

The country's trade with Latin American, African, and Central Asian countries grew 9.3 percent, 8.4 percent, and 43 percent, respectively.

Amid the country's steady economic recovery, private businesses have seen their trade continue to grow in the first 11 months. During the period, total foreign trade of Chinese private businesses rose 6.1 percent to 20.24 trillion yuan, accounting for 53.3 percent of China's total foreign trade value.

Other highlights of China's trade during the January-November period include China's automobile exports, which surged 79.6 percent from a year earlier, and the continuous growth of the exports of machinery and electronic products, which accounted for 58.6 percent of the country's total exports during the period.

The sound performance of automobile and mobile phone exports reflected the recovery of the external demand in relevant industries and the comprehensive competitive advantages of China's manufacturing industry, Lyu noted.

In the meantime, robust business activities and logistics volumes also helped the country to consolidate the foundation in achieving stable and high-quality growth in foreign trade. A survey focusing on trade climate conducted by Chinese customs showed that the percentage of businesses that logged growth in import and export orders has increased.

The data from the country's railway operator showed that in the first 11 months, the China-Europe Railway Express operated a total of 16,145 trains that transported nearly 1.75 million twenty-foot equivalent unit containers of goods, up 7 percent and 19 percent year on year, respectively.

The operator said that the total volume of goods transported during this period already exceeded the total volume recorded in the whole of 2022.

Although there is still pressure on the country's exports in the fourth quarter as the world economy faces unsteady recovery, Lyu believes that beefed-up policies and sound performances of enterprises, among other positive factors, will help the country continue logging the upward momentum in exports in the last three months of 2023.