China News Service, November 2, according to the Ministry of Commerce website, the Ministry of Commerce today released the "China Foreign Trade Situation Report (Autumn 2016)". The "Report" shows that in terms of RMB, China's total import and export value in the first three quarters of 2016 was 17.53 trillion yuan, down 1.9% from the same period in 2015.

I. Characteristics of China's foreign trade in the first three quarters of 2016

In the first three quarters, in terms of RMB, China's total import and export value was 17.53 trillion yuan, down 1.9% from the same period in 2015 (the same below). Among them, exports were 10.06 trillion yuan, down 1.6%; imports were 7.47 trillion yuan, down 2.3%, both of which were lower than the same period in 2015. The trade surplus was 2.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.6%. In terms of US dollars, China's total import and export value was 2.68 trillion US dollars, down 7.8%. Among them, exports were 1.54 trillion US dollars, down 7.5%; imports were 1.14 trillion US dollars, down 8.2%. The trade surplus was US$396.4 billion, down 5.4%.

(I) Imports and exports showed a trend of stabilization and improvement

In the first three quarters, the decline in China's imports and exports narrowed quarter by quarter. In terms of RMB, imports and exports grew by 1.1% in the third quarter, an increase of 8.3 and 1.3 percentage points over the first and second quarters respectively. The main reasons for the stabilization of imports and exports are that in recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policy measures to support the steady growth and structural adjustment of foreign trade, which are highly targeted and valuable. The continuous release of policy effects has effectively reduced the burden on enterprises, enhanced their confidence, and stimulated the vitality of import and export enterprises. Second, since 2016, China's economic operation has been generally stable, with steady progress and steady improvement. The export industry structure has been optimized and international competitiveness has been continuously improved. China's demand has rebounded, driving an increase in imports. Third, the overall level of international commodity prices has rebounded moderately amid fluctuations, which has significantly boosted the growth of imports. Judging from the monthly data, imports have achieved positive growth for two consecutive months in August and September.

(II) New momentum for foreign trade continues to accumulate

General trade has developed better than the overall, and China's foreign trade enterprises have further enhanced their ability to independently explore international markets. In the first three quarters, general trade imports and exports were 9.82 trillion yuan, up 0.1%, accounting for 56.0% of China's total imports and exports, an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the same period in 2015. Among them, exports were 5.54 trillion yuan, up 0.1%, accounting for 55.0% of the total exports, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over the same period in 2015; imports were 4.28 trillion yuan, up 0.2%, accounting for 57.3% of the total imports, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over the same period in 2015. Processing trade continued to show a negative growth trend, and its share of total imports and exports further declined. In the first three quarters, new formats such as cross-border e-commerce, market procurement trade, and foreign trade comprehensive service enterprises continued to maintain rapid growth. Among them, Hangzhou's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports increased by more than 1 times, and market procurement trade exports increased by more than 10%, becoming a new growth point for foreign trade.

(III) Private enterprises have become the main force of exports

China's private enterprises have actively adapted to changes in China's external environment, and have worked hard to cultivate new foreign trade competitive advantages with technology, brand, quality and service as the core. They have achieved initial results in transformation and upgrading, and their position in China's foreign trade development has been further enhanced. In the first three quarters, China's private enterprises exported 4.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.3%, accounting for 46.5% of the total export value, exceeding the export proportion of foreign-invested enterprises and state-owned enterprises respectively, becoming the main force of exports; imports increased by 9.3%, better than the overall growth rate of imports.

(IV) The pace of moving towards "importing high-quality products and exporting high-quality products" has accelerated

China's imports of high-tech products such as advanced technology, key components and important equipment have grown rapidly, and the policy effects of expanding imports and optimizing import structure are obvious. In the first three quarters, China's imports of mechanical and electrical products were 3.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.8%. Imports of high-tech products were 2.46 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.4%. Among them, the import of life science technology, computer integrated manufacturing technology, electronic technology and aerospace technology increased by 14.1%, 5.8%, 4.6% and 2.2% respectively. China's foreign trade enterprises have accelerated the pace of transformation and upgrading, and international production capacity and equipment manufacturing cooperation have effectively driven the export of high-end manufacturing and high value-added products. In the first three quarters, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products were 5.73 trillion yuan, down 1.8%, accounting for 57% of China's total exports in the same period. Among them, the exports of medical instruments and equipment, engines and generators, batteries and solar cells increased by 6.3%, 5.7%, 5.2% and 2.7% respectively. The export of some high-tech products grew rapidly, and the exports of materials technology and aerospace technology products increased by 10% and 12.3% respectively. Some traditional advantageous products in foreign trade have strong resilience, and exports have maintained positive growth. In the first three quarters, China's exports of seven major labor-intensive products were 2.15 trillion yuan, down 0.6%, which was less than the overall export, accounting for 21.3% of the total export value. Among them, the exports of toys, plastic products and textiles increased by 17.1%, 3.3% and 2.5% respectively.

(V) Imports of bulk commodities continued to increase in volume and prices fell

Imports of bulk commodities continued to increase in volume and prices fell, which not only saved foreign exchange expenditures, but also helped enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency. In the first three quarters, China imported 763 million tons of iron ore, an increase of 9.1%; 284 million tons of crude oil, an increase of 14%; 180 million tons of coal, an increase of 15.2%; and 3.79 million tons of copper, an increase of 11.8%. In the first three quarters, China's import price index fell by 5.3% overall. Among them, the import prices of iron ore, crude oil, refined oil, coal, copper and steel fell by 8.6%, 25.9%, 16.9%, 14.8%, 11.9% and 7.4% respectively, and the decline was narrower than in the first half of the year.

(VI) International market layout is more diversified

In the first three quarters, China's trade with traditional markets was obviously differentiated. China's bilateral trade with the United States fell by 3.3%, and exports to it fell by 1.9%; bilateral trade with the EU and Japan increased by 2.7% and 2.9% respectively, and exports to them increased by 1.8% and 0.5% respectively; bilateral trade with ASEAN fell by 0.8%, and exports to them fell by 1.9%. In the first three quarters, China's exports to some countries related to the "Belt and Road" maintained a good growth momentum. Among them, exports to Pakistan, Russia, Poland, Bangladesh and India increased by 14.9%, 14%, 11.7%, 9.6% and 7.8% respectively. India and Russia accounted for 2.9% and 1.8% of China's exports respectively, both of which increased by 0.3 percentage points compared with the same period in 2015.

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