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China's foreign trade volume topped 10 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) for the first time in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, with the growth rate hitting a six-quarter high, customs data showed Tuesday. According to the General Administration of Customs, China's total value of imports and exports stood at 10.17 trillion yuan in Q1, up 5 percent year on year. Of the total, exports rose 4.9 percent to 5.74 trillion yuan, while imports increased 5 percent to 4.43 trillion yuan. The growth in both exports and imports accelerated by 4.1 and 2.3 percentage points, respectively, compared with the fourth quarter of 2022.

At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that day, Wang Lingjun, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Customs, said that with the overall stable development of China's economy as a backdrop and through the joint efforts of foreign trade practitioners in striving for progress, innovation and entrepreneurship, China's foreign trade has continuously made strides in high-quality development, with continued manifestation of "quality improvement" and effective consolidation of "stable quantity", driving the import and export volume to a new level in the first quarter of this year.

China's import and export volume with Belt and Road Initiative countries and other BRICS nations saw faster growth than the overall level. In Q1, China's import and export volume with Belt and Road Initiative countries was 4.82 trillion yuan, up 5.5 percent, accounting for 47.4 percent of the total, a 0.2 percentage point increase year on year. The import and export volume with ASEAN was 1.6 trillion yuan, up 6.4 percent. In the same period, the import and export volume with the other 9 BRICS countries was 1.49 trillion yuan, up 11.3 percent, accounting for 14.7 percent. In addition, the import and export volume with the European Union, the United States, South Korea, and Japan were 1.27 trillion yuan, 1.07 trillion yuan, 535.48 billion yuan, and 518.2 billion yuan, respectively, totaling 33.4 percent.

Exports and imports of private enterprises maintained double-digit growth. In the first quarter, the exports and imports of private enterprises reached 5.53 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7%, accounting for 54.3% of the total value of imports and exports. The number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance increased by 8.8% year-on-year. The number of private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises increased by 10.4% and 1% respectively, and the scale of imports and exports of state-owned enterprises reached the highest level in the same period in history.

Exports of electromechanical and labor-intensive products have shown positive momentum. In the first quarter, China's electromechanical product exports reached 3.39 trillion yuan, a 6.8% increase, accounting for 59.2% of the total exports; among them, computers and their components, automobiles, and ships increased by 8.6%, 21.7%, and 113.1% respectively. In the same period, exports of labor-intensive products reached 975.72 billion yuan, an increase of 9.1%; among them, textiles and clothing, plastic products, and furniture and its parts increased by 5.4%, 14%, and 23.5% respectively.

Imports of commodities and consumer goods continued to expand steadily. In the first quarter, China's imports of bulk commodities such as energy, metal ores, and grain increased by 6.2%. Of these, energy products such as crude oil, natural gas, and coal accounted for 286 million tons, an increase of 8%; metal ores such as iron and aluminum accounted for 374 million tons, an increase of 5%; and grain accounted for 38.416 million tons, an increase of 5.1%. In the same period, imports of mechanical and electrical products rose by 9.6%, including a 13% increase in electronic components. In addition, imports of textiles and garments, fresh and dried fruits, and nuts increased by 12.6%, 18%, respectively.

Generally speaking, China's foreign trade has made a strong start and got off to a good start in the first quarter, laying a solid foundation for achieving the goal of improving quality and stabilizing volume for the whole year. Wang Lingjun said.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Wang Lingjun predicts that China's import and export will continue to improve, basically maintaining growth in the first half of the year. Currently, the international environment has undergone profound changes, and the world economic development faces many severe challenges, all of which will pose greater tests to China's foreign trade. "But at the same time, we must also see that China's economic fundamentals continue to improve, and foreign trade's comprehensive competitive advantages are further consolidated, with continuous improvement in import and export having solid support."