On January 15, official from MOFCOM Department of Foreign Trade introduced the Foreign Trade Situation of China in January-December, 2017

Official from MOFCOM Department of Foreign Trade said MOFCOM firmly implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC and the State Council and paid special attention to the implementation of a series of trade supporting policies launched by the State Council together with departments and regions in 2017. It has optimized the layout of the international market, domestic regions, goods structure, business entity and trade mode, which can be called Five Optimization. Besides, MOFCOM facilitated the construction of the demonstration base of foreign trade’s transformation and upgrading, trade platform and international marketing network, and promoted the pilot projects of new activities of foreign trade, the innovative development and the gradient transfer of processing trade and effective import policies. Remarkable achievements have been made in foreign trade development whose growth has surpassed expectations with the structure further optimized and the motivations’ transfer quickened. This has successfully fulfilled the goal of “continuing to promote the stable and upward development of foreign trade” put forward in the Government’s Work Report, which plays an important role in contributing more to national economy and social development as well as the revival of world economy and trade.

According to the statistics of the Custom House, China's total import and export value reached 27.79 trillion yuan in 2017, with an increase of 14.2% year on year (similarly hereinafter). Among these, the export reached 15.33 trillion yuan, with an increase of 10.8%, and the import reached 12.46 trillion yuan, with an increase of 18.7%. The surplus was 2.87 trillion yuan, narrowing down by 14.2%.

The Head of the MOFCOM Department of Foreign Trade pointed out that China's foreign trade mainly presented the following highlights in 2017:

1. The growth surpassed expectations and the growth rate hit a record high in 6 years. In 2017, China’s growth rate was 21.2 and 15.1 percentage points higher than those in 2015 and 2016 respectively, changing the negative growth for two consecutive years.

2. The growth rate was higher than those of the world main economies. According to the latest statistics of the WTO, China’s import growth was 1.3 and 0.5 percentage points higher than those of the US and Germany respectively in January-October (in USD), and China was expected to remain as the biggest importer of global trade in goods for 9 consecutive years. China’s import growth rate was 10.4, 8.1, 7.6 and 6.5 percentage points higher than those of Japan, South Korea, the US, Germany, Japan and the world respectively.

3. The trade structure was constantly optimized. The international markets become more diversified. While the traditional markets of the US, the EU and Japan were consolidated, China’s exports to the countries along the “Belt and Road” routes and the BRICS countries like Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and Malaysia grew rapidly, up 35.2%, 19.8%, 17.7%, 18.5% and 13.6% respectively. The structure of commodities was further upgraded. The export of mechanical and electrical products with high technical content and added value increased by 12.1%, accounting for 58.4% of the total, up 0.7 percentage points, 1.3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate. Among these, the exports of automobile, computer and mobile phone grew by 27.2%, 16.6% and 11.3% respectively. The business entities enjoyed common development. The exports of private enterprises increased by 12.3%, continuing to be the largest business entity regarding exports with its proportion increasing to 46.5%, up 0.6 percentage points. . The mode of trade was further optimized and the export of general trade increased by 11.7%, with its proportion increasing to 54.3%, up 0.4 percentage points.

4. The shift between the old and new engines of the innovative development of foreign trade was facilitated. The rapid development of new trade modes such as cross-border e-commerce and market purchasing trade became the new highlights of foreign trade growth. The cultivating of new engines made remarkable achievements. In January-November, 2017, the imports and exports in the pilot work of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas were more than doubled, and the exports of market purchasing trade increased over 30%. Many foreign trade enterprises continued to innovate, and starting from the supply side, they transformed and upgraded themselves while constantly improving their international competitiveness.

5. Its contribution to national economy and social development was strengthened. In January-November, 2017, our import linkage taxes reached 1.73 trillion yuan, up 25.8%, increasing the fiscal revenue. The fast-growing imports and exports also made contributions to improving balance of payments, increasing foreign exchange reserve and ensuring a stable RMB exchange rate. In 2017, the import amounts and prices of 10 kinds of commodities like crude oil, iron ore and natural gas increased by 0.6%-26.9%, which guaranteed the domestic demand and eased the resources’ constraint of the national economic development.

6. It played an important role in the revival of global economy and trade. Since 2017, the stable and upward Chinese economy has continuously driven the rapid growth of import, providing broader market and more precious cooperation opportunities for other countries. According to the statistics of the WTO, in the first three quarters of 2017, the contribution of China's import growth to the global imports reached 17%, with its imports accounting for 10.2% of the global share.

The official pointed out that China’ s rapid growth in imports and exports in 2017 mainly owes to the following reasons:

1. The international market picks up. The world economy has experienced mild and upward growth and the investment and trade have picked up since 2017. According to the prediction of the IMF, the global economic growth will reach 3.6% in 2017. According to the latest statistics (in USD) of the WTO, the import growth of 63 main economies added up to 10.7% in January-October. Among these, the import growths of Japan, South Korea, the US and the EU were 9.6%, 18.8%, 6.8% and 8.5% respectively.

2. The stable and upward domestic economy drives the continuous growth of the imports. Since this year, our economy has maintained a forward and stable performance with good growth momentum. According to the WTO’s statistics, China’s import growth is obviously faster than the global average and those of the WTO members such as the US, Germany and Japan. In 2017, the import amounts and prices of 10 kinds of commodities like crude oil, iron ore and natural gas pushed up the total imports by 7.2 percentage points.

3. The policy effect further appears. Since 2017, MOFCOM and all the related departments and regions have paid special attention to the series of policies and documents to promote the development of foreign trade issued by the State Council, which aims to practically reduce the enterprises’ burden and create favorable business environment for them. The policy effect appears gradually.

4. The enterprises’ structure adjustment and power steering accelerate. The business environment of new industry formats are gradually improved, and the export growth rates of cross border e-commerce and market purchasing are obviously above the general speed. Many enterprises started from the supply side, actively fostering new foreign trade competitiveness with technologies, brand, quality, service and standard as its core. The added value of products and brand influence are further enhanced.

5. The base number stayed low. The imports and exports in 2016 reached the lowest level since 2012, which is the objective reason for the fast-growing imports and exports.

In the past five years, China’s position as a big trading nation was constantly consolidated. Since 2009, China has become the biggest exporter and second largest importer in global trade in goods. China’s international market share of export increased from 11.7% in 2013 to 13.2% in 2016. The foreign trade development has become the important supporting strength of national economy and social development. Those achievements are uneasy to earn.

In terms of the situation of foreign trade in 2018, from the overall external environment, the aggregate demand is on the rise as the revival trend of global economy has been more and more stable. At the same time, the stable and upward development of domestic environment will provide solid support for China’s foreign trade development. Some uncertain and unstable factors also exist. The de-globalization and the rise of trade and investment protectionism in some countries have indeed brought a discordant voice to the steady development of the world economy.

The Report of the 19th CPC National Congress points out that we should “expand foreign trade, develop new models and new forms of trade, and turn China into a trader of quality”, indicating the direction for our foreign trade work. Next, guided by President Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will firmly foster and carry out the new development ideas. We will deepen the supply-side structural reform in foreign trade area, rally and strengthen all cooperation and coordination, actively expand imports and devote every efforts to prepare the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in 2018. We will speed up the cultivation of new competitive advantages and enhance the quality and benefits of foreign trade to promote the stable growth of foreign trade, consolidate China’s status as a big trading nation and boost the process of becoming a trading power.