By outdoor-nature-child.com On October 14th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference where a relevant official from the General Administration of Customs shared the foreign trade data for the first three quarters of this year. A noteworthy highlight is that the share of BRICS nations in global trade has surpassed one-fifth, further enhancing their international influence. In the first three quarters, China’s imports and exports with other BRICS countries reached 4.62 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.1%.
The BRICS partnership continues to flourish with ongoing trade achievements. The BRICS cooperation mechanism serves as an important platform for emerging market countries and developing nations to strengthen solidarity and promote mutual interests. With the addition of five new partners on January 1st, the BRICS “family” has seen significant progress in trade.
In the industrial sector, China has established complementarity with other BRICS nations in fundamental industries such as steel, chemicals, and textiles. In the first three quarters, China’s exports of intermediate goods like steel and textile raw materials to other BRICS countries increased by 8.6% and 13.4%, respectively. Additionally, imports of metal ores and methanol from these countries surged by 14.4% and 34.3%. During the same period, exports of semiconductors, flat-panel display modules, and aircraft components to other BRICS nations also achieved double-digit growth, supporting the development of emerging industries.
Wang Lingjun, Vice Director of the General Administration of Customs, noted that in agriculture, China’s advantageous agricultural products meet the diverse needs of other BRICS countries.
In a remarkable achievement, the western region of China led the nation in foreign trade growth. According to the General Administration of Customs, the western region’s imports and exports totaled 2.92 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 8.9%, the highest among all regions. With the coordinated development strategy in play, the western region is committed to fostering extensive openness, continuously enhancing its level of foreign trade. Since 2020, the annual import and export value has surpassed 3 trillion yuan, inching closer to 4 trillion yuan, with an average growth rate of 8.5%. In the first three quarters of this year, the western region’s foreign trade growth outpaced the national average by 3.6 percentage points, increasing its share of the national total to 9%.
Taking Sichuan as an example, which ranks first in the western region for foreign trade scale, the province reported imports and exports through the Chengdu Air Port valued at 449.72 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 30.3%. This figure positions it just behind Shanghai and Beijing, accounting for 7.7% of the national air transport trade volume. The Chengdu Air Port boasts the most extensive and varied regulated import sites in the Midwest, and under the new customs model, imported goods can enter domestic cargo stations directly through the “airside passage,” reducing transit time by about 40%.
In addition to innovations that enhance the efficiency of import and export volumes, the western region’s foreign trade industry continues to undergo quality upgrades. In the first three quarters, exports of mechanical and electrical products, “new three types” products, and high-tech specialized equipment grew by 13.3%, 7.9%, and 32.6%, respectively.
Lv Daliang, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, highlighted that the new land-sea corridor construction in the west is boosting development and openness along the route, with imports and exports through this new channel reaching 513.79 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a growth of 15%.
In the realm of cross-border e-commerce, the General Administration of Customs reported that imports and exports amounted to 1.88 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, reflecting an 11.5% increase. This includes exports of 1.48 trillion yuan (up 15.2%) and imports of 399.16 billion yuan (down 0.4%). According to statistics operated under China’s cross-border e-commerce survey system, which typically conducts semi-annual and annual reports, the official data showed that in the first half of the year, the scale of cross-border e-commerce trade reached a historic high of 1.25 trillion yuan.
In terms of product structure, exports were primarily made up of apparel, shoes, bags, jewelry, electronics, and household textiles, while imports largely consisted of beauty and personal care products, as well as fresh food. Geographically, the primary sources of exported goods were Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangsu, whereas imports were concentrated in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Beijing.