Foreign Trade Maintains Upward and Improving Momentum, July Growth Rate Hits Yearly High

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on August 7, China's total import and export value of goods trade reached 25.7 trillion yuan in the first seven months of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.5%.

Notably, in July alone, the total import and export value amounted to 3.91 trillion yuan, growing by 6.7% year-on-year. This growth rate accelerated by 1.5 percentage points compared to June, marking the highest monthly increase this year. Lü Daliang, Director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis at the General Administration of Customs, stated that since the beginning of this year, China's economic performance has been stable and progressing steadily. Despite a complex external environment, foreign trade has maintained an upward and improving trend.

"The foreign trade performance in the first seven months continues the growth momentum seen since last year, demonstrating strong development resilience," said Zhang Xiaotao, Dean of the School of International Economics and Trade at the Central University of Finance and Economics, in an interview. He noted that, amid persistent external challenges, July's foreign trade growth rate even reached a new high for the year, reflecting the resilience of China's foreign trade and the result of foreign trade enterprises adapting and innovating.

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, also commented that China's foreign trade growth in the first seven months has shown resilience and vitality, with the growth rate in July further accelerating compared to June. "This fully confirms that, in the current global economic environment, the competitive advantages of China's industrial system continue to gain recognition in the international market. Countries are actively expanding imports from China, particularly electromechanical and high-tech products, to meet critical needs for their economic development."

It was also noted that while exports have grown steadily, imports have continued to increase as well. In July, China's goods imports reached 1.6 trillion yuan, rising by 4.8%, marking two consecutive months of growth.

Zhou Mi believes this highlights China's increasingly prominent role as a vital global market and reflects the sustained improvement of the domestic economy, as well as its contribution to the stability of global supply chains. He further analyzed that, in terms of import categories, China's imports of key raw materials such as crude oil, along with electromechanical products, have grown rapidly in the first seven months. This is closely related to the continuous efforts under policies focusing on "major projects and equipment upgrades" and "new consumption and new models," as well as the sustained activity in domestic investment and consumption.

Looking beyond the overall figures to the structure, electromechanical products, which account for 60% of exports, have maintained robust growth. In the first seven months, China's exports of electromechanical products reached 9.18 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%, accounting for 60% of the country's total export value. Among these, exports of integrated circuits, automobiles, and automatic data processing equipment and its components grew by 21.8%, 10.9%, and 1.1%, respectively.

Meanwhile, private enterprises have shown strong performance. Data indicate that in the first seven months, the import and export value of private enterprises reached 14.68 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. This accounts for 57.1% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

Regarding this, Gao Shiwang, spokesperson for the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, stated that the core of the resilience in electromechanical product exports lies in China's competitive advantages on the supply side of the electromechanical industry. Private enterprises are increasingly becoming the main force in electromechanical product exports, and efforts to expand international markets further support stable expectations for electromechanical product exports.

Zhang Xiaotao analyzed that, despite facing the impact of increased U.S. tariffs in the first half of the year, the final suspension of these measures provided room for negotiation. Consequently, thanks to China's strong industrial competitiveness and effective policy responses, the actual impact on related enterprises has been relatively limited.

However, faced with the complexity and severity of the external environment, pressure on foreign trade enterprises remains unabated. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held on July 30 proposed specific measures such as "strengthening financing support," "promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade," and "optimizing export tax rebate policies" to assist foreign trade enterprises significantly affected.

In this regard, Zhang Xiaotao stated that, against the backdrop of an unchangeable external tariff environment, efforts should focus on two aspects. On one hand, domestic financial policy support and accelerated export tax rebates should be utilized to reduce the burden on enterprises and enhance their competitiveness. On the other hand, enterprises should actively explore diversified overseas markets while also paying attention to the domestic market, exploring paths for integrated development of domestic and foreign trade to secure greater development space.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Zhou Mi believes that, guided by policies such as those focusing on "major projects and equipment upgrades" and "new consumption and new models," the quality of China's economic development will continue to improve. This process will create more opportunities and promote the enhancement of the quality and efficiency of economic development for trading partners.

Zhang Xiaotao noted that China has already gained experience in dealing with changes in the international political and economic landscape, and foreign trade enterprises are continuously broadening their markets through adaptation and innovation. In the long term, as various policies yield positive effects, industrial upgrading, the integration of domestic and foreign trade, and the construction of a unified national market will all help China forge new advantages in foreign trade.