General Administration of Customs: exports of aluminum and rare earths increased by 26.7% and 6.5% respectively, steel imports decreased by 13.4% in the first quarter.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs today, in the first quarter of this year, the total value of China's foreign trade imports and exports totaled 9.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7 percent, of which exports totaled 5.23 trillion yuan, up 13.4 percent over the same period last year, while imports totaled 4.19 trillion yuan, up 7.5 percent over the same period last year.

From the perspective of trading partners, China's foreign trade structure continued to optimize in the first quarter, with general trade imports and exports reaching 5.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.9 percent over the same period last year. China's imports and exports to ASEAN, the European Union, the United States and South Korea were 1.35 trillion yuan, 1.31 trillion yuan, 1.18 trillion yuan and 574.18 billion yuan respectively, up 8.4%, 10.2%, 9.9% and 12.3% respectively over the same period last year. ASEAN continues to be China's largest trading partner, accounting for 14.4% of China's total foreign trade value.

In the same period, imports and exports between China and countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" route totaled 2.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.7 percent over the same period last year. China and 14 other members of the RCEP import and export totaled 2.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.9 percent over the same period last year.

General Administration of Customs: China's imports and exports grew by 10.7% in the first quarter and foreign trade started smoothly.

Exit:

In March 2022, unwrought aluminum and aluminum products exported 594400 tons in March, an increase of 34.02% over March last year. Exports accumulated 1.6283 million tons from January to March, an increase of 26.7 percent over the same period last year.

Steel exports totaled 4.945 million tons in March 2022, a decrease of 34.43% compared with March 2021. Exports totaled 13.179 million tons from January to March, a decrease of 25.5 percent from January to March last year.

Exports of rare earths in March 2022 were 4845.2 tons, up 0.17% from March last year. Exports totaled 12680.2 tons from January to March, an increase of 6.5 percent over the same period last year.

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Import:

In March 2022, 2.184 million tons of copper ore and its concentrate were imported, a slight increase compared with the same period last year, which is almost negligible. Imports totaled 6.35 million tons from January to March, an increase of 6.7 percent over the same period last year.

In March 2022, imports of unwrought copper and copper products were 504008.7 tons, down 8.75% from the same period last year. Imports totaled 1473340.3 tons from January to March, an increase of 2.6 percent over the same period last year.

In March 2022, iron ore and its concentrates imported 87.283 million tons, down 14.52 percent from the same period last year. Imports totaled 268.357 million tons from January to March, a decrease of 5.2 percent over the same period last year.

In March 2022, coal and lignite imported 16.423 million tons, down 39.91% from the same period last year. From January to March, it totaled 51.812 million tons, a decrease of 24.2% compared with the same period last year.

Steel imports reached 1.011 million tons in March 2022, down 23.52% from the same period last year. Imports totaled 3.218 million tons from January to March, down 13.4 percent from January to March last year.

Imports of rare earths reached 13501.4 tons in March 2022. Imports totaled 30318.1 tons from January to March, down 13.1% from January to March last year.

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