According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs, the total value of China's goods trade (the same below) import and export in the first 8 months of 2024 was 28.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Among them, exports were 16.45 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.9%; imports were 12.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7%; and the trade surplus was 4.32 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.6%. In terms of US dollars, the total value of China's import and export in the first 8 months was 4.02 trillion US dollars, an increase of 3.7%. Among them, exports were 2.31 trillion US dollars, an increase of 4.6%; imports were 1.71 trillion US dollars, an increase of 2.5%; and the trade surplus was 608.49 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.2%.

According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, the total value of China's goods trade (the same below) import and export in the first 8 months of 2024 was 28.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Among them, exports were 16.45 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.9%; imports were 12.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7%; and the trade surplus was 4.32 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.6%. In terms of US dollars, the total value of China's import and export in the first 8 months was 4.02 trillion US dollars, an increase of 3.7%. Among them, exports were 2.31 trillion US dollars, an increase of 4.6%; imports were 1.71 trillion US dollars, an increase of 2.5%; and the trade surplus was 608.49 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.2%.

The main characteristics of China's import and export in the first 8 months of 2024 are as follows:

1. General trade import and export growth

In the first 8 months, China's general trade import and export amounted to 18.46 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.6%, accounting for 64.6% of the total value of our foreign trade. Among them, exports were 10.82 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%; imports were 7.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.1%. During the same period, processing trade import and export amounted to 5.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.1%, accounting for 17.6%. Among them, exports were 3.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.1%; imports were 1.87 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.9%.

In addition, China's import and export through bonded logistics amounted to 4.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.2%. Among them, exports were 1.55 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.3%; imports were 2.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.1%.

2. Import and export growth with ASEAN, EU, USA, and South Korea

In the first 8 months, ASEAN was my largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 4.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 10%, accounting for 15.7% of my total foreign trade value. Among them, exports to ASEAN were 2.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.1%; imports from ASEAN were 1.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.7%. The EU was my second largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 3.72 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.1%, accounting for 13%. Among them, exports to the EU were 2.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.9%; imports from the EU were 1.28 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.1%. The United States was my third largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 3.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.4%, accounting for 11%. Among them, exports to the United States were 2.38 trillion yuan, an increase of 5%; imports from the United States were 778.93 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3%. South Korea was my fourth largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 1.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%, accounting for 5.3%. Among them, exports to South Korea were 687.6 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.1%; imports from South Korea were 826.54 billion yuan, an increase of 15.8%.

During the same period, China's total imports and exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 13.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 7%. Among them, exports were 7.54 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.7%; imports were 5.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.1%.

III. Growth of Imports and Exports by Private Enterprises and Foreign-funded Enterprises

In the first 8 months, the total imports and exports of private enterprises amounted to 15.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5%, accounting for 55.1% of my total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Among them, exports amounted to 10.62 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.8%, accounting for 64.6% of my total exports; imports amounted to 5.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.9%, accounting for 42.2% of my total imports. During the same period, the total imports and exports of foreign-funded enterprises amounted to 8.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.5%, accounting for 29.4% of my total foreign trade value. Among them, exports amounted to 4.53 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.8%; imports amounted to 3.87 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.1%. The total imports and exports of state-owned enterprises amounted to 4.37 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.1%, accounting for 15.3% of my total foreign trade value. Among them, exports amounted to 1.27 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6%; imports amounted to 3.1 trillion yuan, a decrease of 1.1%.

IV. Electrical and Mechanical Products Account for Nearly 60% of Exports, with Increases in Exports of Automatic Data Processing Equipment and Its Parts, Integrated Circuits, Automobiles, and Mobile Phones

In the first 8 months, China's exports of electrical and mechanical products amounted to 9.72 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.8%, accounting for 59.1% of my total exports. Among them, exports of automatic data processing equipment and its parts amounted to 942.38 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6%; exports of integrated circuits amounted to 736.04 billion yuan, an increase of 24.8%; exports of automobiles amounted to 540.84 billion yuan, an increase of 22.2%; exports of mobile phones amounted to 514.37 billion yuan, an increase of 0.5%. During the same period, exports of labor-intensive products amounted to 2.8 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.2%, accounting for 17%. Among them, exports of clothing and accessories amounted to 744.39 billion yuan, an increase of 1%; exports of textiles amounted to 661.6 billion yuan, an increase of 5.8%; exports of plastic products amounted to 497.95 billion yuan, an increase of 9%. Exports of agricultural products amounted to 463.2 billion yuan, an increase of 4.4%.

In addition, exports of steel amounted to 70.575 million tons, an increase of 20.6%; exports of finished oil amounted to 40.004 million tons, a decrease of 5.8%; exports of fertilizers amounted to 19.713 million tons, an increase of 4.4%.

V. Imports of iron ore, coal, and natural gas increased, while imports of crude oil decreased

In the first 8 months, my country imported 0.815 billion tons of iron ore, an increase of 5.2%, with an average import price of 811.5 yuan per ton, up 3.6%; 0.367 billion tons of crude oil, a decrease of 3.1%, with an average price of 4318 yuan per ton, up 7.3%; 0.342 billion tons of coal, an increase of 11.8%, with an average price of 709.6 yuan per ton, down 12.8%; 87.128 million tons of natural gas, an increase of 12.3%, with an average price of 3484.7 yuan per ton, down 7.6%; 70.478 million tons of soybeans, an increase of 2.8%, with an average price of 3630.9 yuan per ton, down 15.1%; 32.506 million tons of refined oil, an increase of 6.2%, with an average price of 4399.6 yuan per ton, up 9.2%. In addition, the import of primary shape plastics was 19.22 million tons, an increase of 0.4%, with an average price of 0.0108 million yuan per ton, down 0.5%; and 3.615 million tons of unprocessed copper and copper materials, an increase of 3%, with an average price of 0.0672 million yuan per ton, up 10.2%.

During the same period, the import of electromechanical products was 4.49 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.4%. Among them, 358 billion integrated circuits, an increase of 14.8%, valued at 1.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 14%; 0.478 million automobiles, a decrease of 1.8%, valued at 193.61 billion yuan, a decrease of 6.6%.