Recently, the General Administration of Customs released China's foreign trade import and export data for the first three quarters. From January to September this year, China's foreign trade operated smoothly under pressure, and the scale increased steadily: the total value of imports and exports was 30.8 trillion yuan (the same below), a slight decrease of 0.2% year on year. Among them, the export was 17.6 trillion yuan, up 0.6% year on year; Imports reached 13.2 trillion yuan, down 1.2% year on year.

At present, in the face of complex and severe external environment and multiple domestic challenges, China adheres to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, the overall economic recovery is improving, high-quality development is steadily advancing, and the import and export of goods trade shows a steady and good development trend.

"Stability" is a solid foundation for the high-quality development of China's foreign trade, and also a reflection of the foreign trade's ability to withstand pressure and adversity. In the first three quarters, China's import and export increased with "stability": the quarterly scale rose quarter by quarter, among which, the import and export in the second and third quarters maintained a high historical level, both reaching more than 10 trillion yuan; The month on month performance increased for two consecutive months, especially in September, which hit a new monthly high in the year. The main body of foreign trade drives growth with "stability": in the first three quarters, China's foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance increased to 597000, of which the import and export value of enterprises that have been continuously active since 2020 accounted for nearly 80% of the total; The export proportion of private enterprises' own brand products increased by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year to 22.7%, realizing the upgrade from "Made in China" to "Chinese brand". The share of foreign trade has been innovated in a "stable" way: according to customs estimates, China's export share from January to July was basically the same as that of the same period last year; From August to September, the import and export of traditional competitive consumer electronics products began to recover and stabilized. The green kinetic energy has driven the import and export of integrated circuits to pick up on a month on month basis. The export has turned from negative to positive. The export of mobile phones and computers grew by 124.9% and 8.3% on month in September, respectively, and the year-on-year decline has narrowed significantly.

For a long time, as the leader of the import and export of consumer goods, private enterprises not only adapt to the diversified domestic needs and meet the people's needs for a better life, but also provide high-quality products for the international market and benefit global consumers, which is the main engine of China's foreign trade growth. At present, China has 511800 private foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance, accounting for 85.7% of China's total foreign trade enterprises; In the first three quarters, the monthly import and export growth of private enterprises was higher than that of the whole, with a total import and export value of 16.34 trillion yuan, accounting for more than half of China's foreign trade.

As the largest market with the greatest potential in the world, China has adhered to the strategy of expanding imports, and has remained the second largest import market in the world for 14 consecutive years. From January to September, China's foreign trade imports still maintained a good momentum: in the first three quarters, China's imports of consumer goods reached 1.46 trillion yuan, agricultural products imports increased by 8.6%, and some personalized and upgrading consumer goods, such as imported jewelry, watches, medical care products, increased significantly. Not only did the import scale increase quarter by quarter, but the import quantity also increased steadily, which has achieved year-on-year growth for eight consecutive months. In particular, the import of resources and energy products, key parts and components and other bulk commodities continued to expand, such as crude oil, natural gas, metal ores and aircraft parts, which continued to play a role in ensuring supply and stability for domestic production needs. In addition, with the steady expansion of domestic consumer demand, China's import access opening gradually diversified, and the import categories of consumer goods continued to increase. Up to now, China has established customs inspection and quarantine cooperation relations with 171 countries and regions, and signed nearly 400 international cooperation documents on agricultural products and food access.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's import and export to countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" amounted to 14.32 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly 50% of the total import and export value, with a year-on-year growth of 3.1%. In particular, the growth of import and export to emerging markets was higher than the overall growth of China's foreign trade. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward ten years ago, as the top three trade partners among the countries jointly building the Belt and Road, China has increasingly close economic and trade relations with the Belt and Road partners. The foundation of trade cooperation is solid, the degree of mutual benefit is deepening, and trade exchanges are continuously active. Nearly 90% of China's exports of foreign contracted projects are oriented towards co construction countries, while constantly expanding international logistics channels. Taking the China Europe regular train as an example, the number of trains in operation has rapidly increased from 80 in 2013 to 16000 in 2022. At present, it has reached more than 200 cities in 25 countries, effectively promoting trade growth. In the past decade, the trade scale between China and the countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" has risen rapidly, from 10.11 trillion yuan in 2013 to 18.95 trillion yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 7%.

Although the development of global trade is facing multiple pressures, the positive factors for China's economic recovery are still accumulating, and foreign trade exports show strong resilience. From January to September this year, the market share, competitiveness and influence of advantageous export industries such as ships and household appliances have been consolidated and improved; The export of mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 60% of the total export value, 1.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The export of "new three kinds" products maintained double-digit growth for 14 consecutive quarters. Especially at present, enterprise orders and confidence have improved. The customs survey results show that the proportion of enterprises with increased or equal import and export orders in September and optimistic import and export enterprises increased from the previous month.

As a series of measures to stabilize foreign trade and optimize the structure continue to advance, and various practical measures are put into effect precisely, we believe that the foundation of "stability" of China's foreign trade in the future will be more solid, "good" changes will be more prominent, and import and export will continue to play a supporting role in the economy to achieve the goal of promoting stability and quality throughout the year.

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