China News Service, May 9, according to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, the head of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce talked about China's foreign trade from January to April 2020. From January to April, affected by the epidemic, China's total import and export volume was 9.07 trillion yuan Down 4.9%. Among them, exports were 4.74 trillion yuan, down 6.4%; imports were 4.33 trillion yuan, down 3.2%; trade surplus was 415.7 billion yuan, down 30.4%. Among them, during the foreign trade operation in the first four months, the export of anti-epidemic materials such as masks and protective clothing increased rapidly, driving textile exports to grow by 5.9%.
The person in charge introduced that the foreign trade operation in the first four months mainly showed the following characteristics:
From a market perspective, exports to emerging markets are better than traditional markets. Exports to emerging markets fell by 2.2%, accounting for an increase of 2.2 percentage points from the same period last year to 50.9%. Among them, ASEAN has become my largest export market, and my exports to ASEAN increased by 3.9%, driving my export growth by 0.5 percentage points. Exports to traditional markets fell by 10.4%, and the proportion fell to 49.1%.
From the perspective of business entities, the export performance of private enterprises is better than the overall. The export of private enterprises decreased by 2.7%, which was better than the overall 3.7 percentage points, showing strong resilience, and the proportion increased by 1.8 percentage points to 51.7%. The exports of state-owned enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises decreased by 6.5% and 10.7% respectively.
From the perspective of major export commodities, the proportion of electromechanical products has increased. The export of mechanical and electrical products fell by 5.9%, better than the overall 0.5 percentage points, and the proportion increased by 0.2 percentage points to 58.8%. The export of seven labor-intensive products such as clothing and toys fell by 10.2%. In addition, the export of anti-epidemic materials such as masks and protective clothing grew rapidly, driving textile exports to grow by 5.9%.
From the perspective of trade methods, the share of general trade remained stable. General trade exports fell by 6.3%, and the proportion remained at 58.5%. Exports of processing trade decreased by 10.9%, which was narrower than the first quarter by 8.2 percentage points, but it was still deeper than the whole, accounting for a decrease of 1.5 percentage points to 28.4%.
The decline in imports has expanded, and the trend of imports of commodities has diverged. From January to April, imports fell by 3.2%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from the first quarter. Crude oil, natural gas, and refined oil imports fell by 7.4%, 13.7%, and 25.7%, respectively, slowing import growth by 0.9, 0.3, and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. Imports of integrated circuits, iron ore and coal increased by 14%, 15.9% and 20.6% respectively.
The person in charge pointed out that China's epidemic prevention and control has been vigorously promoted, and the resumption of production and production of enterprises has gradually reached the normal level. The State Council promptly issued a series of foreign trade stabilization policies and measures to support the rescue and development of enterprises. The vast majority of foreign trade companies strive to take the lead, seize the opportunity to grab orders and export, and actively explore the market. While the policy dividend is gradually released and the decline in imports and exports has narrowed in April, we must also see that the spread of overseas epidemics has not been effectively curbed, the international market demand has shrunk severely, and the international industrial chain supply chain has been seriously affected. Uncertainty and instability factors have increased significantly. The situation facing China's foreign trade is still very grim, and the downward pressure on foreign trade remains high.
The person in charge said that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will firmly win the epidemic prevention and control battle, strengthen international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control, and at the same time do a solid job of "six stability", fully implement the "six guarantees" task to help foreign trade enterprises Overcoming difficulties, guaranteeing markets and guaranteeing orders, ensuring the stability of the supply chain of the industrial chain, actively expanding imports, going all out to stabilize foreign trade, and making positive contributions to the decisive victory of building a well-off society in an all-round way and winning the tough battle against poverty.