China's imports and exports of goods totaled 21.17 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 6.1 percent over the same period last year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on July 12. Of this total, exports totaled 12.13 trillion yuan, up 6.9 percent; imports totaled 9.04 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent; and the trade surplus increased by 12 percent to 3.09 trillion yuan. In dollar terms, China's imports and exports totaled US $2.98 trillion in the first half of the year, an increase of 2.9 percent. Of this total, exports were US $1.71 trillion, up 3.6%; imports were US $1.27 trillion, up 2%; and the trade surplus was US $435 billion, an increase of 8.6%. The main characteristics of China's import and export in the first half of the year are as follows:

First, the scale of trade has reached a new high, and the quarterly trend continues to improve.

In the first half of the year, the scale of China's imports and exports exceeded 21 trillion yuan for the first time in the same period. The growth rate of imports and exports accelerated quarter by quarter, growing by 7.4% in the second quarter, 2.5% and 5.7% higher than in the first quarter and the fourth quarter of last year, respectively. The momentum of foreign trade improvement has been further consolidated.

II. Imports and exports of general trade, processing trade and bonded logistics have all increased.

In the first half of the year, China's general trade imports and exports totaled 13.76 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2 percent, accounting for 65 percent of China's total foreign trade value. Of this total, exports totaled 8.01 trillion yuan, up 8.5 percent, and imports totaled 5.75 trillion yuan, up 1 percent. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade totaled 3.66 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.1 percent, accounting for 17.3 percent. Of this total, exports totaled 2.32 trillion yuan, down 1.3 percent, while imports totaled 1.34 trillion yuan, up 8.5 percent.

In addition, China imported and exported 2.96 trillion yuan in bonded logistics, an increase of 16.6%. Of this total, exports totaled 1.12 trillion yuan, up 13.2 percent, and imports totaled 1.84 trillion yuan, up 18.9 percent.

III. Growth in imports and exports to ASEAN, the United States and South Korea

In the first half of the year, ASEAN was China's largest trading partner. The total value of our trade with ASEAN was 3.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5 percent, accounting for 15.9 percent of the total value of our foreign trade. Of this total, exports to ASEAN totaled 2.03 trillion yuan, up 14.2 percent; imports from ASEAN totaled 1.33 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent; and the trade surplus with ASEAN reached 699.49 billion yuan, an increase of 36.5 percent. The European Union is my second largest trading partner. The total value of trade with the European Union is 2.72 trillion yuan, down 0.7%, accounting for 12.8%. Of this total, exports to the European Union totaled 1.78 trillion yuan, up 0.5 percent; imports from the European Union totaled 938.87 billion yuan, down 2.9 percent; and the trade surplus with the European Union increased by 4.6 percent to 837.67 billion yuan. The United States is my third largest trading partner. The total value of our trade with the United States is 2.29 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.9 percent, accounting for 10.8 percent. Of this total, exports to the United States totaled 1.71 trillion yuan, up 4.7 percent; imports from the United States totaled 577.97 billion yuan, down 2 percent; and the trade surplus with the United States increased by 8.4 percent to 1.14 trillion yuan. South Korea is my fourth largest trading partner. The total value of our trade with South Korea is 1.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.6%, accounting for 5.3%. Of this total, exports to South Korea totaled 516.95 billion yuan, down 0.6 percent; imports from South Korea totaled 609.02 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent; and the trade deficit with South Korea increased by 14.3 percent to 92.07 billion yuan.

In the same period, China's imports and exports to the "Belt and Road Initiative" countries totaled 10.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2 percent. Of this total, exports totaled 5.62 trillion yuan, up 8.4 percent, and imports totaled 4.41 trillion yuan, up 5.8 percent.

IV. Growth in imports and exports of private enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises

In the first half of the year, imports and exports of private enterprises totaled 11.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.2 percent, accounting for 55 percent of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.5 percent over the same period last year. Of this total, exports totaled 7.87 trillion yuan, up 10.7 percent, accounting for 64.9 percent of China's total exports, while imports totaled 3.77 trillion yuan, up 12.3 percent, accounting for 41.8 percent of China's total imports. In the same period, imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises totaled 6.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.2 percent, accounting for 29.1 percent of China's total foreign trade value. Of this total, exports totaled 3.31 trillion yuan, down 0.1 percent, while imports totaled 2.86 trillion yuan, up 0.5 percent. Imports and exports of state-owned enterprises totaled 3.31 trillion yuan, up 1.2 percent, accounting for 15.6 percent of China's total foreign trade value. Of this total, exports totaled 931.28 billion yuan, up 1.9 percent, and imports totaled 2.37 trillion yuan, up 1 percent.

Mechanical and electrical products account for nearly 60% of exports, of which exports of automatic data processing equipment and their parts, integrated circuits and automobiles have increased.

In the first half of the year, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products totaled 7.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.2 percent, accounting for 58.9 percent of China's total export value. Of this total, automatic data processing equipment and its spare parts were 683.77 billion yuan, up 10.3 percent; integrated circuits were 542.74 billion yuan, up 25.6 percent; cars were 391.76 billion yuan, up 22.2 percent; and mobile phones were 388.28 billion yuan, down 1.7 percent. In the same period, exports of Lomi products totaled 2.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.6 percent, accounting for 17.1 percent. Of this total, clothing and clothing accessories were 524.43 billion yuan, up 3 percent; textiles were 492.67 billion yuan, up 6.5 percent; and plastic products were 377.64 billion yuan, up 11.7 percent. Exports of agricultural products totaled 344.43 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2 percent.

In addition, exports of steel were 53.4 million tons, up 24 percent; oil products were 30.094 million tons, down 3.8 percent; and fertilizers were 12.606 million tons, down 0.8 percent.

VI. Imports of major commodities such as iron ore, coal and natural gas have increased.

In the first half of the year, China imported 611 million tons of iron ore, an increase of 6.2%, an average import price of 841.8 yuan per ton, up 7%, 275 million tons of crude oil, down 2.3%, 4316.3 yuan per ton, up 7.9%, 250 million tons of coal, up 12.5%, 716.3 yuan per ton, down 17%. Natural gas 64.652 million tons, up 14.3%, 3488.5 yuan per ton, down 10.5% Soybeans 48.481 million tons, down 2.2%, 3691.4 yuan per ton, down 15.8%; oil products 25.076 million tons, up 9.9%, 4330.6 yuan per ton, up 7.9%. In addition, imports of plastics in primary shapes increased by 0.1% to 10800 yuan per ton, down 1%, while unwrought copper and copper materials increased by 6.8% to 65900 yuan per ton, up 8.6%.

In the same period, imports of mechanical and electrical products totaled 3.25 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.1 percent. Among them, 258.89 billion integrated circuits, an increase of 14.1 percent, a value of 1.27 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.4 percent; 332000 cars, a decrease of 4.1 percent, a decrease of 132.35 billion yuan, a decrease of 11.8 percent. Source: Sinochem New Network