I Briefings on China-Australia Trade in Goods in January-September 2017

In January-September 2017, Australia's trade in goods resumed growth. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the imports and exports of goods totaled US$337.84 billion, up 23.0% over the same period of the previous year (similarly hereinafter). Among these, exports totaled 172.49 billion US dollars, up 28.1%; imports totaled 165.36 billion US dollars, up 18.1%. The trade surplus was 7.13 billion U.S. dollars, while that of the same period last year saw a deficit.

In terms of countries (regions), Australia's exports to China, Japan, South Korea and India in January-September 2017 accounted for 33.3%, 14.5%, 6.8% and 5.1% of Australia's total exports respectively and reached US$57.36 billion, US$24.94 billion, US$11.68 billion and US$8.83 billion respectively, up 38.2%, 35.5%, 31.9% and 75.3%, and the exports to the above four countries accounted for 59.6% of Australia's total exports; imports from China, the United States, South Korea and Japan accounted for 21.0%, 10.4%, 8.0% and 7.3% of Australia's total imports respectively and reached US$34.71 billion, US$17.23 billion, US$13.27 billion and US$11.99 billion, up 8.7%, 7.2%, 114.6% and 10.3% respectively. Australia's top five surplus sources are China, Japan, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan Province of China, with surpluses of US$22.65 billion, US$12.94 billion, US$6.79 billion, US$6 billion and US$2.46 billion respectively; major deficit sources are mainly from the US, Germany and Thailand, with deficits numbers reaching US$10.33 billion, US$6.35 billion and US$5.82 billion; and the deficit to the US and Germany grew by 9.6% and 2.8% respectively, that to Thailand fell by 10.4%.

In terms of commodities, as Australia's major exports, the exports of mineral products, precious metals and related products and plant products accounted for 56.4%, 6.6% and 6.2% of Australia's total exports respectively in January-September 2017 and reached US$97.24 billion, US$11.46 billion and US$10.72 billion US dollars respectively. Among these, exports of mineral products and plant products increased by 45.0% and 45.6% respectively, and exports of precious metals and related products fell by 4.1%. The export of animal products, another major export, increased by 6.3%. Mechanical and electrical products, transportation equipment and mineral products are Australia’s top three imports. In January-September 2017, their imports totaled US$84.80 billion, accounting for 51.3% of Australia's total imports. Major Australian imports have resumed growth comprehensively, with imports of transportation equipment up 40.0% and imports of mineral products up 29.0%. These are products with rapid growth in imports, boosting the overall import growth by nearly 20%.

II Briefings on China-Australia Bilateral Trade in January-September 2017

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the China-Australia bilateral trade volume in January-September 2017 was US$92.07 billion, up 25.4%. Among these, Australia’s exports to China were US$57.36 billion, up 38.2%, accounting for 33.3% of Australia’s total exports, up 2.5 percentage points; Australia’s imports from China were US$34.71 billion, up 8.7%, accounting for 21.0% of Australia’s total imports, down 1.8 percentage point. The trade surplus between Australia and China was US$22.65 billion, up 137.2%. China continued to be Australia's largest trading partner, the largest export destination and the largest source of imports.

Mineral products, mainly metal ore, have always been Australia’s major export to China and the export volume in January-September 2017 was US$40.45 billion, up 41.1%, accounting for 70.5% of Australia's total exports to China. The exports of textiles and raw materials, Australia’s second largest exports to China, reached US$1.68 billion, up 15.5%, accounting for 2.9% of Australia's total exports to China. The exports of food, beverage and tobacco, Australia’s third largest exports to China, were US$1.39 billion, up 55.6%, accounting for 2.4% of Australia's total exports to China. As the share of mineral products in China's exports has further increased to over 70%, how the exports of mineral products is to China fundamentally determines the overall performance of Australia's exports to China. In January to September 2017, Australia's exports growth of mineral products to China was a little higher than the overall export growth.

Australia's major imports from China are mechanical and electrical products, textiles and miscellaneous products of furniture toys, with the total imports in January-September 2017 reaching US$21.11 billion, accounting for 60.8% of Australia's total imports from China. In addition to the above products, base metals and related products, plastic rubber and chemical products are also Australia’s major imports from China (the HS category), accounting for more than 5% of its total imports. Overall, Australia's imports from China also grew, but the growth rate was lower than its overall growth rate, and far lower than its export growth to China. This also made Australia's trade surplus to China continue to grow, and China continued to be its largest trade surplus source.

(All information published in this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only. )