Update: China's foreign trade up 0.2 pct in 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's total goods imports and exports expanded 0.2 percent year on year in yuan terms in 2023, official data showed Friday.

In 2023, the country's foreign trade stood at 41.76 trillion yuan (about 5.87 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Exports grew 0.6 percent year on year to 23.77 trillion yuan, while imports edged down 0.3 percent from one year earlier to 17.99 trillion yuan, the data showed.

The data have demonstrated that China's export products still hold solid competitive advantages, GAC deputy head Wang Lingjun told a press conference.

The total export value of the tech-intensive green trio, namely solar batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles, surged 29.9 percent to 1.06 trillion yuan in 2023. It marks the first time that the figure topped the one-trillion-yuan mark.

The export value of machinery and electronic products, accounting for 58.6 percent of total exports, increased 2.9 percent during the period, while that of ships hiked 35.4 percent from a year earlier.

Wang also noted an increase in the share of trade with Belt and Road Initiative participating countries in total foreign trade. Last year, China's trade with these countries accounted for 46.6 percent of the total, up 1.2 percentage points from 2022.