Data released by the General Administration of Customs of China yesterday showed that in the first five months, my country's total import and export value of goods was 17.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.5% year-on-year (same below). Among them, exports were 10.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2%.

Judging from the monthly data, in May, my country's total import and export value of goods trade was 3.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7%. Among them, exports were 2.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.3%.

Exports maintained positive growth in May and continued to show strong resilience. There are three main driving forces behind them:

•In May, China and the United States issued a joint statement, and the tariff war cooled down”;

•During the suspension period of the US global "reciprocal tariffs", the "export grab" effect of my country's export companies facing markets outside the United States is still fermenting;

• Progress has been made in diversifying the export market.

Imports and exports to the United States have declined, and tariff shock waves still exist

In the first five months of this year, the United States was China's third largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 1.72 trillion yuan, down 8.1%, accounting for 9.6%. Among them, exports to the United States were 1.27 trillion yuan, down 8.7%; imports from the United States were 447.51 billion yuan, down 6.3%.

The shock wave of the tariff war continues. According to estimates by Glodon and other institutions, denominated in US dollars, China's exports to the United States in May were US$28.819 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 34.5%, the largest decline since February 2020, and the decline was greater than the 21% drop in April this year. In May, China imported US$10.807 billion of goods from the United States, a year-on-year decrease of 18.1%. The surplus of commodity trade with the United States fell for the second consecutive month, from March to May, at US$27.6 billion, US$20.5 billion and US$18 billion respectively. Compared with the same period last year, the ranking of commodity trade surpluses of China's top three trading partners has completely reversed from the United States, the European Union and ASEAN, and has become ASEAN, the European Union and the United States. The decline in the surplus with the United States was completely compensated by the rise in the surplus with ASEAN and the EU.

On May 12, China and the United States reached a joint Geneva statement on the reduction of tariffs. The two sides canceled most of the tariffs, and the US demand for Chinese goods rebounded, but the damage has been caused and it will take time to convert into actual shipments. The specific data may be reflected in the statistics in June. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of the British government, He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, will visit the UK from June 8 to 13. During this period, the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States.

Exports to five countries such as ASEAN, the EU, Africa and Central Asia have increased significantly

In the first five months, ASEAN, as my country's largest trading partner, had a total bilateral trade value of 3.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.1%, accounting for 16.8% of the national total foreign trade value. Among them, exports to ASEAN were 1.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.5%.

As the second largest trading partner, the total value of bilateral trade was 2.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.9%, accounting for 12.8%. Among them, exports to the EU increased by 7.7%.

As my country's third largest trading partner, the United States' total bilateral trade value was 1.72 trillion yuan in the first five months, down 8.1%, accounting for 9.6%. Among them, exports to the United States fell by 8.7%.

In May, my country's exports to ASEAN, the EU, Africa and Central Asia increased by 16.9%, 13.7%, 35.3% and 8.8% respectively.

Exported products

Chips and ships continue to rise sharply, while mobile phones and home appliances decline

Changes in export amounts of key commodities in May:

In US dollars, the trend of my country's mechanical and electrical product export segments differentiated in May, with significant differences in performance in different fields.

Overall, the export volume of electromechanical products increased by 7.17% year-on-year in May, down from the previous month. In terms of category segments, integrated circuits, ships, etc. continue to make efforts to shoulder the banner of overseas growth, and mobile phones and home appliances continue to decline.

Specifically, the export volume of integrated circuits in May increased by 33.43% year-on-year, further increasing from 20.22% in April, with strong growth momentum.

In the first five months, my country exported electromechanical products of 6.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.3%, accounting for 60% of China's total export value. Among them, automatic data processing equipment and its components were RMB 575.23 billion, an increase of 3.9%; integrated circuits were RMB 526.4 billion, an increase of 18.9%.

The export volume of ships in May increased by 43.65% year-on-year. Although the month-on-month growth rate declined due to the high base in April (nearly 80% month-on-month in April), the year-on-year growth rate continued to accelerate from 1.93% in March and 36.06% in April, maintaining a high growth trend.

In addition, the export volume of automobiles and auto parts in May increased year-on-year and month-on-month.

The export volume of mobile phones and home appliances, which both declined in April on the same month-on-month, continued to decline in May. The year-on-year growth rate was -23.18% and -8.87% respectively, and the month-on-month increase was -9.46% and -5.10%.

Business entities provide new impetus for China's foreign trade

In the first five months, private enterprises imported and exported RMB 10.25 trillion, an increase of 7%, accounting for 57.1% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 2.4 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 6.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%; imports were 3.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%.

The private economy is the new force in promoting Chinese-style modernization, an important foundation for high-quality development, and a main force in China's foreign trade development. Recently, good news such as the official implementation of the Private Economy Promotion Law has been heard one after another, which has made private enterprises very excited. Many heads of private enterprises unanimously stated that in the future, they will take practical actions to promote the high-quality development of the company's foreign trade business and show their skills in serving and integrating into the new development pattern.

Not only private enterprises, but foreign-invested enterprises have also injected great momentum into China's foreign trade. In May, foreign-invested enterprises imported and exported RMB 1.11 trillion, a growth rate of 4%, accelerating by 2.2 percentage points from the previous four months. During the same period, more than 73,000 foreign-invested enterprises had real import and export performance, setting a new high in five years, and the monthly import and export value increased for four consecutive months.

Driven by new quality productivity, advanced manufacturing is increasingly rising to the top. The confidence and confidence of China's foreign trade operators. In the first five months, China exported equipment manufacturing products of 6.22 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.2%, accounting for 58.3% of China's total export value. Among them, exported electric vehicles increased by 19%, construction machinery increased by 10.7%, ships increased by 18.9%, and industrial robots increased by 55.4%. China's equipment manufacturing products contributed 73% to overall export growth, of which the contribution rate in May was as high as 76.9%, providing strong support for the stable growth of foreign trade.