Ministry of Commerce holds Regular Press Conference (November 17, 2015)

At 10 am on November 17, 2015, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference to brief the media on the foreign trade situation in China's recent commercial work and answer questions from the journalists.

Shen Danyang, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said that from the current operation of foreign trade, the situation facing the development of China's foreign trade this year is more complex and severe than that in 2014, and the downward pressure is increasing. According to customs statistics, from January to October, China's import and export volume was 3,226.96 billion US dollars, down 8.5 percent year on year, of which the export was 1,856.45 billion US dollars, down 2.5 percent year on year; And imports were $1,370.52 billion, down 15.7 percent year on year. In October, China's import and export volume was 323.19 billion US dollars, down 12.1 percent. The export volume was 192.41 billion US dollars, down 6.4 percent, and the import volume was 130.77 billion US dollars, down 18.8 percent. From January to October, the operation of foreign trade mainly showed the following characteristics:

First, general trade exports maintained growth, accounting for an increasing proportion. From January to October, the export of general trade was 999.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.8%, accounting for 53.9% of foreign trade exports, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the same period last year; And processing trade exports were 649.3 billion US dollars, down 9.0 percent, accounting for 35 percent of foreign trade exports, down 2.5 percentage points over the same period last year.

Second, the export of mechanical and electrical products maintained growth, while the export of labor-intensive products declined. From January to October, the export of mechanical and electrical products reached 1,055.57 billion US dollars, up 0.8% year on year, accounting for 57.4% of foreign trade exports, 1.9 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. Among them, the export of mobile phones, ships and lamps increased by 13.1 percent, 16.9 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively. Exports of seven categories of labor-intensive products were $389.59 billion, down 3.0 percent year on year, with textiles, clothing and shoes down 1.9 percent, 7.5 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

Third, the export of private enterprises maintained growth. From January to October, private enterprises exported 831.5 billion US dollars, up 1.3 percent year on year, accounting for 44.8 percent of foreign trade exports, 1.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

Fourth, rapid growth for countries along the Belt and Road. From January to October, China's exports to India, Thailand and Vietnam along the Belt and Road increased by 8.4 percent, 14.3 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. Exports to the United States and ASEAN rose 5.2 percent and 3.7 percent. Exports to traditional markets such as the EU, Japan and Hong Kong fell by 4.1 percent, 9.5 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, while exports to emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil fell by 35.7 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively.

Fifth, exports to the eastern, central and western regions showed negative growth. From January to October, the export of the 10 eastern provinces and cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong and Guangdong) was 1,549.93 billion US dollars, down 1.9 percent. Exports from the central and western regions were $306.52 billion, down 5.2 percent.

Sixth, imports are still operating at a low level due to falling commodity prices and weakening demand in China. From January to October, China's imports of eight major commodities, including crude oil, plastics, soybeans, refined oil products, natural gas, pulp, grain and copper concentrate, increased and fell in price, reducing foreign exchange payments by more than US $134 billion (about 840 billion yuan), and significantly lowering the production costs of Chinese enterprises.

Seventh, from an international perspective, China's export performance is still better than that of the world's major economies and emerging markets. According to WTO statistics, from January to August, the exports of the United States and the European Union fell by 6.0% and 14.7% respectively. From January to September, exports of Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, South Africa and Brazil fell by 9.2 percent, 6.6 percent, 16.6 percent, 7.9 percent and 16.8 percent respectively. China's market share rose steadily, from 12.4 percent at the end of 2014 to about 13 percent.

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