Imports and exports grew by 4.6% in October, marking the fifth consecutive month of positive growth

China's foreign trade grew by 4.6% to 2.84 trillion yuan in October, the latest month of positive growth for the fifth month in a row, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Thursday. Exports totaled 1.62 trillion yuan, up 7.6%. Imports of 1.22 trillion yuan, up 0.9%; The trade surplus was 401.75 billion yuan, up 34.9%.

In the first 10 months of this year, China's imports and exports of goods totaled 25.95 trillion yuan, up 1.1 percent year-on-year. Exports totaled 14.33 trillion yuan, up 2.4%. Imports of 11.62 trillion yuan, down 0.5%; The trade surplus was 2.71 trillion yuan, up 16.9%.

"While the scale of trade continues to increase, the international market share of China's exports is also increasing. In the face of a severe global economic recession and significant contraction in external demand, this highlights the strength and resilience of China's foreign trade, and the trend of stabilizing and improving the quality of China's foreign trade has become even more evident." General Administration of Customs spokesman, statistical analysis department director Li Kuiwen said.

As the largest market subject of China's foreign trade, the vast number of private enterprises have risen to the challenge and become the main force driving the development of China's foreign trade. In the first 10 months, private enterprises imported and exported 12 trillion yuan, up by 10.5 percent, accounting for 46.2 percent of China's total foreign trade, 3.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

From the perspective of major trading partners, ASEAN continues to maintain China's largest trading partner status. In the first 10 months, China's imports and exports to ASEAN reached 3.79 trillion yuan, up 7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 14.6 percent of China's total foreign trade. At the same time, China's imports and exports to the European Union, the United States and Japan and other trading partners also achieved growth.

"What is noteworthy is that in the first 10 months, China's foreign trade with countries along the One Belt And One Road belt and road totaled 7.58 trillion yuan, up 1.4% year on year and accounting for 29.2% of China's foreign trade." Xu Deshun, a researcher with the Academy of Commerce, said China's measures to stabilize foreign trade have produced positive effects and will help accelerate the recovery of the global economy and trade.

China's foreign trade in the realization of the scale of growth at the same time, the trade structure is also more optimization. According to statistics, in the first 10 months, China's general trade imports and exports reached 15.6 trillion yuan, up 2.8 percent, accounting for 60.1 percent of the country's total foreign trade, an increase of 1 percentage point over the same period last year. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade was 6.09 trillion yuan, down 6.2 percent. In terms of commodity categories, in the first 10 months, the export of mechanical and electrical products with higher added value reached 8.45 trillion yuan, up 3.8 percent, accounting for 59 percent of the total export value. Textile exports, including masks, rose 34.8 percent to 908.41 billion yuan, due to increased demand for epidemic prevention overseas.

Since the beginning of this year, the central and western regions have been tapping their potential in foreign trade, with active foreign trade imports and exports and leading the country in growth. In the first 10 months, the growth rate of foreign trade in the central and western regions was 8.5 percent, 7.4 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. The share of trade in the central and western regions was 1.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. Among them, Sichuan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui and Chongqing ranked among the top five in terms of import and export growth. The central and western regions are expected to play an important role in stabilizing the development of China's foreign trade as the pace of all-round opening up is further accelerated.