International Review | The 'New' Signal of China's Foreign Trade Responds to This Global Question

On the 10th, after the release of China's latest "report card" on foreign trade, many foreign media gave such evaluations, stating that "monthly imports and exports have maintained growth for 8 consecutive months" and "it is expected to continue to rebound next year". Data shows that in the first 11 months of this year, China's total import and export value of goods trade was 39.79 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. Among them, exports increased by 6.7% and imports increased by 2.4%, achieving overall stable growth.

From a global perspective, achieving such results is not easy. Currently, geopolitical conflicts continue and global trade protectionism intensifies.  

From specific data, it can be seen that China's foreign trade not only has a larger volume, but also has more "new" meaning. In the first 11 months of this year, China's exports of high-tech and value-added electromechanical products amounted to 13.7 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly 60% of the total exports. Bai Ming, a member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce of China, pointed out to the International Sharp Review that this indicates that as China accelerates the development of new quality productivity, the "new three" such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products continue to lead the growth of foreign trade, and old core products such as containers and ships are also revitalized, making China's "smart" manufacturing highly favored.

China not only delivers cost-effective products to the world, but also shares large markets and new opportunities with the world by expanding imports. In the first 11 months, China's imports of energy products and mineral products increased by 6.3% and 4.3% respectively; The import of electromechanical products reached 6.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.5%. Wang Xiaosong, a professor at the School of Economics of Renmin University of China, told the International Review that with the continuous development of the manufacturing industry, China still has a great demand for resource-based products such as energy and minerals, as well as some intermediate commodities and parts with high technology content.

In addition, the Chinese government has signed trade agreements with all parties, developed markets such as the "the Belt and Road" countries, and introduced high-quality products. In the first 11 months, China's total imports and exports to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" totaled 18.74 trillion yuan, up 6%, of which imports totaled 8.22 trillion yuan, up 3.4%. China continues to expand its foreign trade "circle of friends", providing Chinese consumers with more choices and allowing companies from various countries to reap opportunities and dividends in China.

Where did such achievements come from? From an external perspective, the current global trade in goods is maintaining a recovery trend, creating conditions for demand to rebound. It is worth noting that in the context of increasing trade frictions between Europe and the United States, China's imports and exports to the European Union and the United States increased by 1.3% and 4.2% respectively in the first 11 months, once again confirming the attractiveness of the Chinese market and the competitive advantage of Chinese products.

More importantly, from an internal perspective, benefiting from the good fundamentals of the Chinese economy, the vast market, strong resilience, and great potential, coupled with the continuous efforts of the Chinese government's recent package of policy measures, new forms and models of foreign trade growth continue to emerge. In addition, Chinese products themselves have strong competitiveness and constantly explore and innovate, providing a foundation and guarantee for expanding the international market. Taking Geely Automobile as an example. The relevant person in charge of the company told International Sharp Review that thanks to its commitment to globalization and innovative research and development, Geely Group sold nearly 380000 vehicles overseas in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of over 56%, ranking among the top three Chinese domestic passenger car overseas sales.

Foreign trade is regarded as a barometer of a country's economy. The steady growth of China's foreign trade reflects the resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy, and also brings more benefits and certainty to the world. As the world's second largest economy and the largest trading nation in goods, China has always adhered to the principles of "opening doors," "building roads," and "linking up," effectively maintaining the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and promoting the sustained and healthy development of global trade. Recently, international financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Nomura, etc. have expressed optimism about the prospects of the Chinese economy and are willing to continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market. Meanwhile, based on a series of measures recently introduced by China to boost economic growth, several institutions have raised their expectations for China's economic growth in 2024.

It has been proven that China's development is open and inclusive, and China continues to promote the construction of an open world economic system. In the future, China will continue to expand its opening-up to the outside world, actively connect with international high standard economic and trade rules, build a first-class business environment, provide more new opportunities for the development of countries around the world, and share more development dividends. As President Xi Jinping said, "If China is good, the world will be good; if the world is good, China will be better

(International Sharp Commentator)