BEIJING, 13th July, 2023 (WAM) – China's total goods imports and exports expanded 2.1% year-on-year (Y0Y) in yuan in H1 2023, reaching a record high of 20 trillion yuan (approximately $2.8 trillion), according to the General Administration of Customs.
Exports increased by 3.7% YOY to reach 11.46 trillion yuan, while imports experienced a slight decline of 0.1% from the previous year, totalling 8.64 trillion yuan, Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported.
Despite a challenging external environment, China's economy has demonstrated overall improvement, with steady advancements in both the volume and quality of its foreign trade during the first half of this year.
The goods imports and exports in the first and second quarters reached 9.76 trillion yuan and 10.34 trillion yuan, respectively, with both registering YOY growth, according to the data.
Data also revealed that China's foreign trade had maintained an upward trajectory in the first half of the year.
The imports and exports recorded in the second quarter were 6 percent higher than that of the first quarter. Both May and June registered 1.2 percent month-on-month increases.
The scale of private enterprises' imports and exports experienced notable growth in the January-June period, with an 8.9 percent YOY increase to reach 10.59 trillion yuan, representing 52.7 percent of the country's total volume. Meanwhile, foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises accounted for 30.7 percent and 16.4 percent of the country's total import and export volumes respectively.