China's import growth slowed in June while export growth accelerated, with an increase in the import volume of major commodities in the first half of the year, and a 22.2% increase in automobile exports.

On Friday, July 12th, the General Administration of Customs released data showing that, in US dollar terms, China's exports in June 2024 grew by 8.6% year-on-year to $307.85 billion, a sequential increase of 1.9%, with the previous figure being a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, marking the third consecutive month of expansion to the highest level in nearly two years. Imports decreased by 2.3% year-on-year to $208.81 billion, a sequential decrease of 4.9%, falling to the lowest level in four months.

In terms of Renminbi, China's exports in June 2024 grew by 10.7% year-on-year to 2,187.13 billion yuan, a sequential increase of 1.9%, with the previous figure being a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Imports decreased by 0.6% year-on-year to 1,483.41 billion yuan, a sequential decrease of 4.9%, with the previous figure being a year-on-year increase of 11.2%. The trade surplus for the month reached a new high of $99 billion, the highest level since 1990.

Looking at the first half of the year, China's total value of goods trade imports and exports was 21.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Of this, exports were 12.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.9%; imports were 9.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2%; and the trade surplus was 3.09 trillion yuan, expanding by 12%.

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In US dollar terms, for the first half of the year, China's total value of imports and exports was $2.98 trillion, an increase of 2.9%. Of this, exports were $1.71 trillion, an increase of 3.6%; imports were $1.27 trillion, an increase of 2%; and the trade surplus was $435 billion, expanding by 8.6%.

The General Administration of Customs stated that the trade scale has reached a new high, with a continuous positive trend on a quarterly basis:

In the first half of the year, China's import and export scale exceeded 21 trillion yuan for the first time in history for the same period; the growth rate of imports and exports accelerated quarter by quarter, with a 7.4% increase in the second quarter, which is 2.5 percentage points higher than the first quarter and 5.7 percentage points higher than the fourth quarter of the previous year, further consolidating the positive momentum of foreign trade.

The main characteristics of China's import and export in the first six months of 2024 are as follows:

General trade, processing trade, and bonded logistics imports and exports all increased.

In the first half of the year, China's general trade imports and exports were 13.76 trillion yuan, a 5.2% increase, accounting for 65% of the total foreign trade value. Of this, exports were 8.01 trillion yuan, an 8.5% increase; imports were 5.75 trillion yuan, a 1% increase. Over the same period, processing trade imports and exports were 3.66 trillion yuan, a 2.1% increase, accounting for 17.3%. Of this, exports were 2.32 trillion yuan, a 1.3% decrease; imports were 1.34 trillion yuan, an 8.5% increase.Additionally, China's import and export through bonded logistics amounted to 2.96 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.6%. Of this, exports were 1.12 trillion yuan, growing by 13.2%; imports were 1.84 trillion yuan, with an increase of 18.9%.

Trade growth with ASEAN, the United States, and South Korea

Looking at June, in terms of US dollars, China's exports to the EU, its second-largest trading partner, increased by 4.1%, reversing the 1.0% decline in May. Exports to the United States grew by 6.6%, higher than the 3.62% increase in May.

For the first half of the year, ASEAN was China's largest trading partner, with total trade value reaching 3.36 trillion yuan, a 10.5% increase, accounting for 15.9% of China's total foreign trade value. Within this, exports to ASEAN were 2.03 trillion yuan, a 14.2% increase; imports from ASEAN were 1.33 trillion yuan, a 5.2% increase; and the trade surplus with ASEAN was 699.49 billion yuan, expanding by 36.5%.

The EU was China's second-largest trading partner, with total trade value of 2.72 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.7%, representing 12.8% of the total. Exports to the EU were 1.78 trillion yuan, a 0.5% increase; imports from the EU were 938.87 billion yuan, a 2.9% decrease; and the trade surplus with the EU was 837.67 billion yuan, expanding by 4.6%.

The United States was China's third-largest trading partner, with total trade value of 2.29 trillion yuan, a 2.9% increase, accounting for 10.8%. Exports to the US were 1.71 trillion yuan, a 4.7% increase; imports from the US were 577.97 billion yuan, a 2% decrease; and the trade surplus with the US was 1.14 trillion yuan, expanding by 8.4%.

South Korea was China's fourth-largest trading partner, with total trade value of 1.13 trillion yuan, a 7.6% increase, representing 5.3% of the total. Exports to South Korea were 516.95 billion yuan, a 0.6% decrease; imports from South Korea were 609.02 billion yuan, a 15.7% increase; and the trade deficit with South Korea was 92.07 billion yuan, expanding by 14.3 times.

During the same period, China's combined import and export with countries involved in the "Belt and Road" initiative reached 10.03 trillion yuan, a 7.2% increase. Exports were 5.62 trillion yuan, a 8.4% increase; imports were 4.41 trillion yuan, a 5.8% increase.

Private, foreign, and state-owned enterprises all saw growth in import and export

In the first half of the year, private enterprises' import and export totaled 11.64 trillion yuan, a 11.2% increase, accounting for 55% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year. Within this, exports were 7.87 trillion yuan, a 10.7% increase, representing 64.9% of China's total export value; imports were 3.77 trillion yuan, a 12.3% increase, representing 41.8% of China's total import value.During the same period, foreign-invested enterprises achieved import and export trade of 6.17 trillion yuan, a growth of 0.2%, accounting for 29.1% of the total value of my country's foreign trade. Among them, exports were 3.31 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.1%; imports were 2.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.5%. State-owned enterprises achieved import and export trade of 3.31 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.2%, accounting for 15.6% of the total value of my country's foreign trade. Among them, exports were 931.28 billion yuan, an increase of 1.9%; imports were 2.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 1%.

Mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 60% of the export share, with exports of automatic data processing equipment and its components, integrated circuits, and automobiles increasing.

In the first half of the year, my country exported mechanical and electrical products worth 7.14 trillion yuan, a growth of 8.2%, accounting for 58.9% of the total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its components were 683.77 billion yuan, a growth of 10.3%; integrated circuits were 542.74 billion yuan, a growth of 25.6%; automobiles were 391.76 billion yuan, a growth of 22.2%; mobile phones were 388.28 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.7%.

During the same period, labor-intensive products exported were 2.07 trillion yuan, a growth of 6.6%, accounting for 17.1%. Among them, clothing and accessories were 524.43 billion yuan, a growth of 3%; textiles were 492.67 billion yuan, a growth of 6.5%; plastic products were 377.64 billion yuan, a growth of 11.7%. Agricultural products exported were 344.43 billion yuan, a growth of 5.2%.

In addition, steel exports were 53.4 million tons, an increase of 24%; finished oil products were 30.094 million tons, a decrease of 3.8%; fertilizers were 12.606 million tons, a decrease of 0.8%.

The import volume of major commodities such as iron ore, coal, and natural gas increased.

In the first half of the year, my country imported 611 million tons of iron ore, an increase of 6.2%, with an average import price (the same below) of 841.8 yuan per ton, an increase of 7%; crude oil was 275 million tons, a decrease of 2.3%, with an average price of 4316.3 yuan per ton, an increase of 7.9%; coal was 250 million tons, an increase of 12.5%, with an average price of 716.3 yuan per ton, a decrease of 17%; natural gas was 64.652 million tons, an increase of 14.3%, with an average price of 3488.5 yuan per ton, a decrease of 10.5%;

Soybeans were 48.481 million tons, a decrease of 2.2%, with an average price of 3691.4 yuan per ton, a decrease of 15.8%; finished oil products were 25.076 million tons, an increase of 9.9%, with an average price of 4330.6 yuan per ton, an increase of 7.9%. In addition, the import of primary plastic shapes was 14.202 million tons, an increase of 0.1%, with an average price of 10,800 yuan per ton, a decrease of 1%; unwrought copper and copper materials were 2.763 million tons, an increase of 6.8%, with an average price of 65,900 yuan per ton, an increase of 8.6%.

During the same period, the import of mechanical and electrical products was 3.25 trillion yuan, a growth of 10.1%. Among them, integrated circuits were 25.889 billion pieces, an increase of 14.1%, with a value of 1.27 trillion yuan, a growth of 14.4%; automobiles were 332,000 vehicles, a decrease of 4.1%, with a value of 132.35 billion yuan, a decrease of 11.8%.