By Wang Shen
The General Administration of Customs for China announced on June 8 that in the first five months of 2018, China's goods trade had reached RMB 11.63 trillion, an increase of 8.8 percent year-on-year.
Exports rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year to RMB 6.14 trillion for the January to May period, and imports had increased by 12.6 percent to RMB 5.49 trillion, which resulted in a trade surplus of RMB 649.81 billion, narrowing by 31 percent.
In May, China's exports grew 3.2 percent year-on-year to RMB 1.34 trillion, while imports rose 15.6 percent to RMB 1.19 trillion. The trade surplus totaled RMB 156.51 billion, shrinking by 43.1 percent.
General trade had increased rapidly and increased its proportion. In the first five months, exports and imports of general trade went up by 12.7 percent year-on-year to RMB 6.84 trillion, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total foreign trade volume, 2 percentage points up when compared to the same period in 2017.
China's exports and imports with countries along the Belt and Road had a growth rate higher than the average. The trade had increased 11.1 percent to RMB 3.21 trillion, making up 27.6 percent of the total trade.
The trade within some main markets, such as Europe, the U.S., Southeast Asian countries and Japan had also increased. In the first five months, the trade between China and Europe totaled RMB 1.7 trillion, rising by 7.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 14.6 percent of the total foreign trade.
Private Chinese companies contributed 38.9 percent of the total trade, 1 percentage point higher than the same period last year. In the first five months, the exports and imports of private companies had increased by 11.7 percent to RMB 4.52 trillion.
The exports of mechanical and electrical products had increased by 7.9 percent to RMB 3.61 trillion, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total exports, while the exports of traditional labor-intensive products had dropped by 4.1 percent to RMB 1.13 trillion, making up 18.4 percent of the total exports.
The imported goods volume such as iron ore, natural gas, crude oil, had increased, which caused the average import price of bulk commodities to rise or fall accordingly. The import of crude oil rose by 8 percent to 190 million tons, while its price had increased by 15.6 percent. The import of natural gas rose by 36.4 percent to 34.8 million tons, while its price had increased by 13.3 percent.
