A cargo ship pulls out at the Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao, in eastern China’s Shandong province. XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
China's foreign trade amounted to 14.76 trillion yuan ($2.27 trillion) in the first five months of 2021, up 28.2 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs.
The country’s exports soared 30.1 per cent on a yearly basis to 8.04 trillion yuan from January to May, while its imports jumped 25.9 per cent year-on-year to 6.72 trillion yuan. Its trade surplus surged 56.2 per cent on a yearly basis to 1.32 billion yuan.
China’s total foreign trade expanded 26.9 per cent year-on-year to 3.14 trillion yuan in May.
The nation’s trade with ASEAN reached 2.19 trillion yuan in the first five months of this year, an increase of 29.2 per cent on a yearly basis, while trade with the EU rose 28.7 per cent to 2.06 trillion yuan.
In the meantime, the goods trade value between China and the US grew 41.3 per cent year-on-year to 1.82 trillion yuan.
Last year, despite contracting global trade and economic recession, trade and investment between China and ASEAN continued to grow. The value of China-ASEAN trade reached 4.74 trillion yuan last year, a year-on-year growth of seven per cent, and ASEAN has become China’s largest trade partner, according to the General Administration of Customs.
Concerning the 2020 figures, China-ASEAN Business Council executive president Xu Ningning said: “The growth in China-ASEAN trade and investment showed great potential and vitality of both sides’ economic relations.”
He said China and ASEAN have increasing needs to deepen economic relations and promote closer and more active cooperation, which is not only beneficial to both sides but also helps with the stable economic growth of East Asia, as well as global economic recovery.
“It is expected that ASEAN’s share in China’s foreign trade will continue to rise in 2021, and two-way investment will also increase, spurred by supportive policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement together with the framework of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.
“Such supportive policies will also help create favourable conditions for industrial cooperation between China and ASEAN member states, which is important for economic development for both sides, especially as cooperation will help form new industry chains within the area with complementary industrial strengths from different countries, and raise global competitiveness,” Xu said.
CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
