Resilient Growth

China maintained steady trade growth in the first three quarters of the year though global uncertainties weighed on trade demands, customs data showed on October 14.

Foreign trade rose 2.8 percent year on year during the JanuarySeptember period, with exports expanding 5.2 percent and imports dipping 0.1 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).

Foreign trade kept growing and the trade structure kept improving despite slowing global economic and trade growth and a more complex external environment, GACC spokesperson Li Kuiwen said.

A total of 464,000 firms reported trade activities during this period, up 5.9 percent year on year. The number of private firms rose 8.7 percent to 374,000, with a 5.1-percent trade growth achieved.

Despite the drop in overall imports, consumer goods imports rose 15.3 percent year on year. Imports of fruits, cosmetics, aquatic products and electric automobiles increased 42.3 percent, 39.9 percent, 35.9 percent and 93.7 percent, respectively.

The industrial upgrading drove electro-mechanical products, which took the lion’s share of exports, up 4.7 percent during this period.

Li attributed the resilient trade growth to stable economic expansion, effective policy support and market diversification.

The economy is shifting from being driven by investment and exports to consumption. Net exports contributed 20.7 percent of GDP growth in the first half of the year, while consumption accounted for 60.1 percent, official data showed.