China's import and export increase in first three quarters

China's imports went up 14.1 percent year on year to 10.42 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of this year, customs data showed Friday.

A cargo ship unloads good at a container terminal of Lianyungang Port, Jiangsu province. [File Photo: VCG]

In the Jan.-Sept. period, China imported 336 million tonnes of crude oil, 64.78 million tonnes of natural gas and 24.59 million tonnes of refined oil.

Imports of iron ore and soybean dropped by 1.6 percent and 2 percent to 803 million tonnes and 70.01 million tonnes, respectively, during the same period.

Meanwhile, China's overall import price has grown by 4.2 percent. Major bulk commodities, including crude oil, natural gas and copper, have seen an increase both in volume and in price.

Li Kuiwen, a spokesperson with the the General Administration of Customs, attributed the increase in imports to the government's favorable measures, including tax cuts, policies to optimize the business environment and tariff reductions.

China lowered its value added tax on imports as well as taxes on vehicles and auto parts, medicines, and consumer goods in 2018.

Li also noted that China has significantly reduced imports of solid waste. 

In addition, China's exports went up 6.5 percent year on year to 11.86 trillion yuan (about 1.72 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2018, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) data showed.

The trade surplus was narrowed by 28.3 percent to 1.44 trillion yuan in the first three quarters.

Export of electric-mechanical products increased by 7.8 percent to 6.91 trillion yuan, taking up 58.3 percent of China's total export value, said Li Kuiwen, the GAC spokesperson.

China has taken measures to readjust its export structure, with exports of automobiles and machine tools expanding 16.3 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.

The country has made great achievement in the green development of foreign trade, reducing the exports of energy-intensive, high-polluting and resource-intensive products by 7.6 percent, Li said.

China witnessed a higher level of opening up, as companies moved to diversify their export market and seek more trading partners, Li added.

Trade between China and other Belt and Road countries grew 3.3 percentage points faster than the growth rate of China's overall foreign trade.

Trade with Africa and Latin America grew at a rate 3.9 percentage points and 3.8 percentage points higher, respectively, than overall trade growth, he added.