Farkhund Yousafzai
Beijing, 8 August 2024 (TDI): China’s foreign trade in goods expanded by 6.2% year-on-year (YoY) to reach 24.83 trillion yuan ($3.46 trillion) in the first seven months of the current year, hitting a new record in trade volume, customs data showed.
The brisk data add to an array of fresh evidence highlighting that the world’s second-largest economy has been maintaining steady growth momentum, despite facing internal and external challenges. It also underscores a bullish outlook for the country’s trade engine, which observers expect could roar at a quicker pace in the second half of the year to support the economy to grow and reach the GDP growth goal of around 5% for 2024.
The magnitude of China’s trade growth in recent months has also defied certain Western nations’ protectionist measures and blatant tariff increases imposed on Chinese goods. This highlights the resilience, competitiveness and inherent vigor of the world’s largest manufacturing powerhouse, experts said, while pointing to China’s unfazed pivotal role as a stabilizer and locomotive of the international supply chain.
In the first seven months this year, China’s exports went up by 6.7%, while imports gained 5.4%, according to customs data. The 6.2-percent foreign trade expansion also outpaced the 6.1-percent rise recorded in the first 6 months.
China’s Economy Maintains Stable Performance
Since the start of 2024, China’s economy has generally maintained a strong performance with steady progress, and foreign trade has showed a stable improvement, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.
In July, foreign trade in goods increased 6.5 percent YoY in yuan terms, with exports gaining 6.5% and imports expanding by 6.6%. The YoY growth rate of imports and exports has been higher than 5% for four consecutive months, according to GAC.
As trade data are a barometer of economic development, the freshly released figures in July have led economists to project that China’s third-quarter GDP is expected to grow by around 5%, or at least gain pace from the second-quarter, which witnessed a 4.7-percent YoY increase.
