Beijing, 15 January 2022 (TDI): According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) foreign trade volume of China reached $6.05 billion, up from last year’s $6 billion. Despite the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Additionally, China’s exports hit 29.9% while its imports stood at 30.1%.
“China has been at the forefront of economic development and pandemic response globally and maintained rapid growth in foreign trade, which registered a record high in volume and steady progress in quality,” Li Kuiwen, GAC spokesperson.
China also witnessed favorable gains with its top trading partners. Trading with ASEAN, the United States, and the European Union gained 19.7%, 20.2%, and 19.1% respectively.
While trade with Korea and Japan increased by 9.4% and 18.4%. Trade activities under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) saw gains of 23.6%. However, the Omicron and Delta variants severely disrupted supply chains and the flow of goods.
Many factories around the world closed once again as governments imposed stringent preventative measures. China was able to grow its trade in spite of this. Exporting all types of goods, from electronics to basic commodities and medical equipment.
Medical equipment and medicines more than doubled from last year while electronics which include laptops and appliances saw an increase of 13.2%. Chief Economist of Hang Seng Bank China Wang Dan attributed China’s continued growth to the government’s effective outbreak prevention methods which allowed factories to function and maintain a stable operation of the industrial chain.
The country witnessed a decrease in processing trade while there was an increase in general trade which allowed the economic structure to become more optimized. According to Wang Dan the Chief Economist of Hang Seng Bank, foreign capital entered China in the hope of using China’s cheap land and labor for export processing trade in the past.
However, now the situation has changed. Foreign investment is entering China to gain access to the enormous Chinese market, paying more attention to long-term returns.
Wang Dan further stated that this will also strengthen the construction of R&D centers in China because China’s domestic market has a large capacity and can easily amortize R&D costs. She anticipates China’s exports to gain momentum going into 2022 despite continued outbreaks of the virus.
She also added that China will benefit from the export of machinery and labor protection products as the world launches infrastructure investment plans to boost its economies.
