On November 13, MOFCOM Department of Foreign Trade commented on China’s foreign trade operation in January-October, 2018.

Since this year, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Central Party Committee and the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce, together with all departments and local sections, has continued to work hard on policy implementation and actively respond to China-US economic and trade frictions. In January-October, the imports and exports have maintained rapid growth, the structure has continued to be optimized, the transformation of growth drivers has been accelerated, the quality and efficiency have been improved, and the good momentum of steady growth has been further consolidated. According to the statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in January-October, China's imports and exports volume totaled 25.05 trillion yuan, up 11.3% year on year (similarly hereinafter), among which the exports totaled 13.35 trillion yuan, up 7.9%; the imports totaled 11.70 trillion yuan, up 15.5%; the trade surplus was 1.65 trillion yuan, narrowing by 26.1%. (In US dollar, in January-October, China's imports and exports volume totaled 3.84 trillion US dollars, up 16.1%. Among these, the exports totaled 2.05 trillion US dollars, up 12.6%; the imports totaled 1.79 trillion US dollars, up 20.3%; the trade surplus was 254.2 billion US dollar, narrowing by 22.3%.)

In terms of the layout of the international market, while the traditional market is being consolidated, exports to emerging and developing markets have maintained a rapid growth. In January-October, China’s exports to emerging markets and developing countries or regions such as ASEAN, Brazil, India and South Africa increased by 12.1%, 16.5%, 10.9% and 9.3% respectively. The imports and exports of the countries along the Belt and Road increased by 14.8%, 3.5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate and accounted for 27.3% of the total foreign trade volume, up 0.8 percentage points.

In terms of the layout of domestic regions, the exports in central and western regions increased by 15.8% and the imports increased by 20.1%, accounting for 16.8% of the total exports and 14.4% of the total imports, up 1.1 and 0.5 percentage points respectively. The exports in eastern regions increased by 6.5% and the imports 14.7%, accounting for 83.2% of the total exports and 85.6% of the total imports respectively.

In terms of business entities, the exports of private enterprises were 6.38 trillion yuan, up 11.2% and accounted for 47.8%, up 1.4 percentage points, continuing to be the largest business entities regarding export. The exports of state-owned enterprises were 1.40 trillion yuan, up 9.0%. The exports of foreign-invested enterprises were 5.56 trillion yuan, up 4.2%.

In terms of commodity structure, in January-October, the exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 7.82 trillion yuan, up 9.3% and accounted for 58.6%, up 0.8 percentage points. Among these, the exports of integrated circuits, automobiles and chassises, and mobile phones and parts increased by 26.2%, 13.9% and 14.0% respectively. The added value of the exports of mechanical and electrical products such as integrated circuits, computers and accessories, motors and generators further increased, and their export unit prices increased by 16.8%, 10.1% and 9.7% respectively. The exports of seven major labor-intensive products such as clothing and toys reached 2.56 trillion yuan, up 0.6%.

In terms of trade mode, in January-October, the exports of general trade reached 7.52 trillion yuan, up 11.6% and accounted for 54.4%, up 1.9 percentage points. The exports of processing trade reached 4.26 trillion yuan, up 3.3%.

In terms of the new forms of foreign trade, the business environment for developing new forms of foreign trade has continued to improve. Cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade have continued to maintain rapid growth this year on the basis of rapid growth for two consecutive years, becoming a new highlight in foreign trade growth.

In terms of imports, in January-October, China's imports increased by 15.5% and the contribution rate to import and export growth was 61.7%, becoming an important driving force for foreign trade growth this year. Among these, the imports of mechanical and electrical products reached 5.32 trillion yuan, up 14.1%, driving the total import volume by 6.5 percentage points. In terms of bulk commodity imports, imports of crude oil and natural gas increased, and soybean imports declined. However, in January-October, the import prices of bulk commodities such as crude oil, pulp, natural gas and steel increased by 30.5%, 20.7%, 18.9% and 6.9% respectively. According to statistics, 10 categories of bulk commodities such as crude oil, natural gas and coal drove imports by 4.8 percentage points, in which factors for the increasing price pulled up imports by 3.1 percentage points.

Next, guided by the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will adhere to the general principle of steady progress and the new development vision, deepen the supply-side structural reform in foreign trade, vigorously foster new forms of trade, promote the innovative development of processing trade, implement proactive import policies, further enhance trade facilitation, promote the high-quality development of foreign trade, advance the construction of a trade power, and make greater contributions to national economic and social development.