China's foreign trade data for the first four months of 2013

From January to April 2013, my country's total import and export value was US$1,330.75 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14%, and the trade surplus was US$60.99 billion. In April, my country's total import and export value was 355.96 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.7%
The General Administration of Customs today released my country's foreign trade data for the first four months of this year. According to customs statistics, from January to April 2013, my country's total import and export value was 1,330.75 billion US dollars, an increase of 14% year-on-year (the same below) after deducting exchange rate factors. Among them, the export was 695.87 billion US dollars, an increase of 17.4%; the import was 634.88 billion US dollars, an increase of 10.6%; the trade surplus was 60.99 billion US dollars.

Customs statistics show that in April, my country's total import and export value was 355.96 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.7% after deducting the exchange rate factor. Among them, exports were US$187.06 billion, an increase of 14.7%; imports were US$168.9 billion, an increase of 16.8%; trade surplus was US$18.16 billion, a decrease of 1.7%.

General trade and processing trade grew steadily. In the first four months of 2013, my country's general trade import and export reached US$667.89 billion, an increase of 8.2%. Among them, the export was 322.36 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.1%; the import was 345.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 2.5%. The deficit under the general trade item was US$23.17 billion, a decrease of 59.4%. During the same period, my country's import and export of processing trade was 435 billion US dollars, an increase of 5.4%. Among them, the export was 273.64 billion US dollars, an increase of 2.9%; the import was 161.36 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.9%. The surplus under processing trade was US$112.28 billion, a decrease of 5.7%.

In bilateral trade with major trading partners, trade with the EU and Japan declined, while trade with the United States and ASEAN grew steadily. According to customs statistics, in the first four months, the total value of bilateral trade between China and the EU was 168.16 billion US dollars, a decrease of 1.3%. The total bilateral trade value between China and the United States was 159.74 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.4%. In the first four months, the total value of bilateral trade between the mainland and Hong Kong was US$150.59 billion, an increase of 66%. During the same period, the total value of bilateral trade between China and ASEAN was 138.97 billion US dollars, an increase of 18.1%. The total bilateral trade value between China and Japan was 97.98 billion US dollars, down 8.5%.

Customs statistics show that 7 provinces and cities including Guangdong and Jiangsu account for 80% of total imports and exports, and exports from the central and western regions are active. In the first four months, the total import and export value of Guangdong was 391.25 billion US dollars, an increase of 35.6%. During the same period, the total import and export value of Jiangsu and Beijing (including central units in Beijing) was 166.71 billion and 140.03 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.3% and 2.8% respectively; Shanghai's import and export was 135.5 billion US dollars, a decrease of 1%. In addition, the total import and export value of Zhejiang, Shandong and Fujian was 101.63 billion, 81.93 billion and 54.21 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.1%, 7.8% and 19.8% respectively. The total import and export value of the above seven provinces and cities accounted for 80.5% of China's total foreign trade value.

In terms of exports, in the first four months, Guangdong exported 221.09 billion US dollars, an increase of 31.1%. Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai exported US$100.01 billion, US$73.15 billion and US$64.21 billion respectively, up 4.6%, 12.1% and 1.1% respectively. During the same period, Shandong, Fujian and Beijing exported 40.11 billion, 33.97 billion and 19.58 billion US dollars respectively, an increase of 3.9%, 24.5% and 10.2% respectively. In addition, exports in the central and western regions maintained rapid growth. The export growth rates of provinces and cities such as Anhui, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Chongqing were 79.8%, 52.3%, 34.2% and 17.6% respectively.

In the first four months, foreign-invested enterprises imported and exported US$593.36 billion, an increase of 1.4%, which was 12.6 percentage points lower than the overall growth rate of foreign trade. During the same period, the import and export of private enterprises was 433.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 51.7%, 37.7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade, accounting for 32.6% of China's total foreign trade value. Among them, the export was 278.07 billion US dollars, an increase of 51.4%, accounting for 40% of the total export value; the import was 155.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 52.1%, accounting for 24.5% of the total import value. In addition, the import and export of state-owned enterprises was 237.77 billion US dollars, a decrease of 3.1%.

Among the export commodities, the export of electromechanical products grew rapidly, and the export of traditional labor-intensive products increased significantly. According to customs statistics, in the first four months, my country's mechanical and electrical products exported 407.37 billion US dollars, an increase of 17.6%, accounting for 58.5% of the total export value. Among them, the export of electrical and electronic products was US$187.3 billion, an increase of 33.6%; the export of mechanical equipment was US$121.75 billion, an increase of 5.9%. During the same period, clothing exports were US$47.94 billion, an increase of 20%; textiles were US$32.22 billion, an increase of 11.7%; footwear was US$14.94 billion, an increase of 20.5%; furniture was US$16.78 billion, an increase of 26.8%; plastic products were US$10.2 billion, an increase of 31.2%; Luggage was US$8.19 billion, an increase of 29.7%; toys were US$2.84 billion, an increase of 3.5%; the total export of the above seven labor-intensive products was US$133.11 billion, an increase of 19.6%, accounting for 19.1% of the total export value. In addition, 300,000 vehicles were exported, an increase of 18.9%.

Among imported commodities, the import volume of some energy and resource products decreased. In the first four months, my country imported 250 million tons of iron ore, an increase of 3.9%, and the average import price was US$133 per ton, a decrease of 4.3%; coal was 110 million tons, an increase of 25.6%, and the average import price was US$91.6 per ton, a decrease of 4.3%. 17.8%; 92.05 million tons of crude oil, a decrease of 0.9%, with an average import price of US$799.6 per ton, a decrease of 5.2%; 15.47 million tons of soybeans, a decrease of 14.8%, with an average import price of US$618.4 per ton, an increase of 15.6%. In addition, the import of electromechanical products was 273.85 billion US dollars, an increase of 18.4%; among them, the import of automobiles was 313,000, a decrease of 20.2%.