General Administration of Customs: In the first half of the year, China's foreign trade import and export increased by 2.1% year-on-year

Published: Jul 18, 2023 17:09

Save

The State Council Information Office held a press conference at local time 10:00 this morning. The relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Customs introduced that China's foreign trade import and export increased by 2.1% year-on-year in the first half of the year, hitting a record. The quality of foreign trade import and export was stable and improved, in line with expectations.According to customs statistics, in the first half of this year, the total import and export value of goods trade in China was 20.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%, of which exports were 11.46 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, and imports were 8.64 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1%.In the first half of the year, China's foreign trade import and export exceeded 20 trillion yuan for the first time, of which the first quarter and the second quarter reached 9.76 trillion yuan and 10.34 trillion yuan respectively, achieving positive growth year-on-year. The import and export in Q2 increased by 6% from Q1, and the import and export in June increased by 1.2% from May.China's foreign trade structure continued to optimize, and the import and export of general trade was 13.16 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%. The import and export of private enterprises increased by 8.9%, accounting for 52.7% of the total import and export value. The total export of three new products including electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar batteries increased by 61.6%, driving the overall export growth by 1.8 percentage points.During the same period, China's import and export to ASEAN, the largest trading partner, was 3.08 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, accounting for 15.3% of the total import and export value. The import and export to the EU was 2.75 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%. China's imports and exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 9.8% year-on-year, 7.7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate, accounting for 34.3% of the total import and export value. Imports and exports to other RCEP members increased by 1.5% year-on-year.

Macro economy

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or for more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

3 hours ago

Data: SHFE, DCE market movement (Sep 09)

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 09 Sep , 2026

3 hours ago

Cobre Secures Third-Party Ore Supply to Add 300 t/month of Copper Cathode at Sierra Atacama

Cobre Limited announced on September 9 that its Sierra Atacama operation in Chile has signed ore-purchase agreements with two third-party copper oxide miners in the Antofagasta region, with deliveries expected to ramp up from Q4 2026. The agreements are expected to supply approximately 50,000–75,000 tonnes of oxide ore per month grading 1.0–1.5% total copper, adding around 300 tonnes per month of copper cathode production. The additional production will be processed through Sierra Atacama’s existing SX-EW plant, which has installed copper cathode capacity of approximately 20,000 tonnes per year and is currently operating below nameplate capacity. As the purchased ore does not require Cobre to incur its own mining and development costs, the company said incremental costs will primarily comprise the ore purchase price and variable processing costs, including acid, power and reagents. Higher throughput is also expected to spread the plant’s fixed costs over a larger production base. The approximately 300 tonnes per month of additional cathode will be incremental to Cobre’s previously announced production targets, which remain unchanged. The company is continuing to stabilise underground production while preparing to transition toward a larger open-pit operation from 2027. Cobre said negotiations with additional regional ore suppliers are also underway, potentially providing further feed for the under-utilised SX-EW facility. The agreements represent a near-term increase in copper cathode supply from Sierra Atacama without requiring additional mining development or new processing capacity. At the initial expected rate, the third-party feed could contribute approximately 3,600 tonnes of additional cathode on an annualised basis. More importantly, it should raise utilisation of the existing SX-EW plant ahead of Cobre’s planned transition to expanded open-pit production in 2027. Further ore-supply agreements would provide additional upside to plant utilisation and cathode output.

3 hours ago

Eldorado Produces First Copper-Gold Concentrate at Skouries, Grid Connection Expected in September

Eldorado Gold announced on September 8 that its wholly owned Skouries project in northern Greece has produced its first copper-gold concentrate, marking another major step in the transition from construction to operations. Commercial production remains targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. First concentrate was produced as part of the ongoing commissioning and ramp-up of the processing plant, following the introduction of first ore to the crusher in July. Key systems including crushing, grinding, flotation and tailings thickening are now operating successfully. The project currently has an ore stockpile exceeding 4.6 million tonnes above reserve grade, sufficient to support more than seven months of processing throughput and concentrate production. Temporary on-site power generation continues to support early operations, while connection to Greece’s national power grid is expected in September, subject to final inspections, testing and installation of metering equipment by the transmission authority. Skouries is expected to produce an average of 67 million lb of copper and 140,000 oz of gold annually over its mine life. The production of first concentrate confirms that Skouries has moved into the processing ramp-up stage after several years of construction. Attention will now shift to the pace of plant ramp-up, completion of the national grid connection and whether Eldorado can achieve commercial production as scheduled in Q4 2026.

3 hours ago