General Administration of Customs introduces the import and export situation in 2017.

The State Council held a press conference on the import and export situation in 2017.

At the press conference. China Network Zhang Ruomeng photo

The State Council Press Office held a press conference at 10: 00 a.m. on Friday, January 12, 2018 in the press room of the State Council Information Office, and invited Huang Songping, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, to introduce the import and export situation in 2017 and answer questions from reporters.

[Xi Yanchun, Deputy Director of the State Council Information Bureau]Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. Today, we are very pleased to invite Mr. Huang Songping, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, to introduce the import and export situation in 2017 and answer your questions. Let’s invite Mr. Huang Songping to make an introduction.

Huang Songping, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, introduced the situation. China Network Zhang Ruomeng photo

[Huang Songping, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs]Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the press conference today. It’s a pleasure to meet you again, to brief you on China’s foreign trade import and export in 2017, and then to answer your questions.

In 2017, the world economy recovered moderately, and the domestic economy was stable and positive, which promoted the continuous growth of China’s foreign trade import and export throughout the year. According to customs statistics, in 2017, the total import and export value of China’s goods trade was 27.79 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.2% over 2016, reversing the previous two consecutive years of decline. Among them, the export was 15.33 trillion yuan, up by 10.8%; Imports reached 12.46 trillion yuan, up by 18.7%; The trade surplus was 2.87 trillion yuan, narrowing by 14.2%. The specific situation is as follows:

First, the import and export value increased quarter by quarter, and the year-on-year growth rate slowed down. In 2017, China’s import and export value increased quarter by quarter, reaching 6.17 trillion yuan, 6.91 trillion yuan, 7.17 trillion yuan and 7.54 trillion yuan respectively, increasing by 21.3%, 17.2%, 11.9% and 8.6% respectively.

Second, the import and export of general trade grew rapidly, and the proportion increased. In 2017, China’s general trade import and export was 15.66 trillion yuan, up 16.8%, accounting for 56.4% of China’s total import and export value, up 1.3 percentage points from 2016, and the trade pattern structure was optimized.

Third, the import and export of the top three trading partners increased simultaneously, and the import and export growth with some countries along the Belt and Road was good. In 2017, China’s import and export to the European Union, the United States and ASEAN increased by 15.5%, 15.2% and 16.6% respectively, accounting for 41.8% of China’s total import and export value. In the same period, China’s imports and exports to Russia, Poland and Kazakhstan increased by 23.9%, 23.4% and 40.7% respectively, both higher than the overall growth rate.

Fourth, the import and export of private enterprises increased, and the proportion increased. In 2017, the import and export of private enterprises in China was 10.7 trillion yuan, up 15.3%, accounting for 38.5% of China’s total import and export value, up 0.4 percentage points from 2016. Among them, exports amounted to 7.13 trillion yuan, up 12.3%, accounting for 46.5% of the total export value, and continued to maintain the top position in export share, with the proportion increasing by 0.6 percentage points; Imports reached 3.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 22%.

5. The growth rate of import and export in the central, western and northeastern provinces is higher than that in the whole country. In 2017, the growth rate of foreign trade in 12 western provinces and cities was 23.4%, exceeding the national growth rate by 9.2 percentage points; The growth rate of foreign trade in the six central provinces and cities was 18.4%, exceeding the national growth rate by 4.2 percentage points; The growth rate of foreign trade in the three northeastern provinces was 15.6%, exceeding the national growth rate by 1.4 percentage points; The growth rate of foreign trade in 10 eastern provinces and cities was 13%. The coordination of regional development has been enhanced.

Six, mechanical and electrical products, traditional labor-intensive products are still the main export. In 2017, China’s mechanical and electrical products exported 8.95 trillion yuan, up 12.1%, accounting for 58.4% of China’s total export value. Among them, automobile exports increased by 27.2%, computer exports increased by 16.6%, and mobile phone exports increased by 11.3%. In the same period, the export of traditional labor-intensive products totaled 3.08 trillion yuan, up 6.9%, accounting for 20.1% of the total export value.

Seven, iron ore, crude oil and soybeans and other bulk commodities import prices rose. In 2017, China imported 1.075 billion tons of iron ore, an increase of 5%; 420 million tons of crude oil, up by 10.1%; 95.54 million tons of soybeans, up by 13.9%; 68.57 million tons of natural gas, an increase of 26.9%; Refined oil reached 29.64 million tons, up 6.4%. In addition, imported copper was 4.69 million tons, a decrease of 5.2%. In the same period, China’s import prices rose by 9.4%. Among them, the average import price of iron ore increased by 28.6%, crude oil by 29.6%, soybean by 5%, natural gas by 13.9%, refined oil by 25.3% and copper by 28%.

In August and December, China’s foreign trade export leading index dropped. In December 2017, the leading index of China’s foreign trade export was 41.1, down 0.7 from the previous month, indicating that China’s exports were still under certain pressure in the first quarter of 2018. Among them, according to the data of online questionnaire survey, China’s export manager index was 44.2 in that month, down 0.6 from last month; The new export order index and export manager confidence index dropped by 0.4 and 1.2 to 48.3 and 50 respectively, and the comprehensive cost index of export enterprises rose by 0.4 to 20.5.

Generally speaking, in 2017, the foundation for China’s foreign trade to stabilize and improve has been continuously consolidated, and its development potential is gradually being released. Under the background of sustained and moderate global economic recovery and China’s stable economy, the overall situation of China’s foreign trade is good this year, but there are still some uncertain and unstable factors in the international economic and trade field, and the high-quality development of foreign trade faces some challenges. In 2018, the Customs will fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, conscientiously implement the arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, take Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era as the guide, adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, adhere to the new development concept, closely follow the major contradictions and changes in China’s society, solidly promote customs reforms to take root according to the requirements of high-quality development, and make every effort to promote the steady growth of foreign trade and better serve the overall situation of national economic and social development.

Now I’d like to answer your questions.

Xi Yanchun, deputy director of the State Council Information Bureau, presided over the press conference. China Network Zhang Ruomeng photo

【 Attacking on the Beautiful Spring 】Thanks to Mr. Huang Songping for his introduction. In order to help you better understand the situation, we have arranged simultaneous interpretation today to help foreign journalists and friends understand the whole situation.

Please ask questions below, and please inform the news organizations you represent before asking questions according to the usual practice.

[CCTV reporter]Hello, Director Huang, my question is, how do you evaluate the overall development of China’s foreign trade in 2017? We know that China’s foreign trade experienced a double-digit growth in 2017, which was a year-on-year decline for two consecutive years. For this change, some people think that this is only a staged rebound. What do you think of this? Please give us a detailed introduction. Thank you.

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. In 2017, the world economy recovered moderately, the domestic economy improved steadily, the "One Belt, One Road" initiative progressed steadily, and the effect of the policy of steady growth of foreign trade appeared, which jointly promoted the two-year negative growth of China’s foreign trade import and export and achieved double-digit recovery growth. Foreign trade has maintained a stable and good development trend. Specifically, there are the following reasons:

First, the world economy has recovered moderately and external demand has picked up. In 2017, the world economy recovered better than expected, and the international market demand picked up. According to the statistics of the World Trade Organization, the total export value of goods trade in 70 major economies in the world increased by more than 9% in the first three quarters of last year, and the trade growth trend was obvious.

Second, the domestic economy is stable and improving, laying the foundation for import growth. In 2017, with the deepening of supply-side structural reform, the domestic economy maintained a steady and positive development trend, and the improvement of real economy operation led to an increase in China’s import demand. At the same time, China has also implemented a series of policies and measures to expand imports, including reducing import tariffs on some consumer goods. Policies and measures such as improving fiscal and taxation policies to expand imports, encouraging the import of advanced technology and equipment and key parts, and improving the level of trade facilitation have had a positive impact on expanding imports.

Third, commodity prices rose year-on-year, driving the rapid growth of import value. In 2017, the overall commodity prices in the international market showed a year-on-year upward trend, driving China’s import price index to rise to 109.4, and the contribution rate of prices to import growth was 52.6%. At the same time, the impact of rising prices of imported raw materials is transmitted to the export of manufactured goods. In 2017, China’s export price index was 103.9, and the contribution rate of prices to export growth was 37.3%.

Fourth, the "Belt and Road Initiative" has been steadily advanced, and emerging markets have been vigorously explored. In 2017, China’s import and export with countries along the Belt and Road increased by 17.8%, which was 3.6 percentage points higher than China’s import and export growth rate. During the same period, China’s import and export with Latin American countries increased by 22%, while that with African countries increased by 17.3%, which was effective in opening up emerging markets. At the same time, the effects of a series of national policies and measures to promote the steady growth of foreign trade continue to show, the reform in streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services is gradually deepening, the domestic business environment is constantly improving, the burden reduction and assistance have achieved practical results, the innovation ability of enterprises has been enhanced, and the endogenous motivation of foreign trade development has been enhanced, which is also an important reason for the foreign trade to continue to stabilize and improve in 2017.

In addition, in 2015 and 2016, China’s foreign trade import and export experienced negative growth for two consecutive years, and the low base also raised the growth rate in 2017 to some extent. Thank you.

[Reporter of China Radio International]Excuse me, Director Huang, we especially want to know about the trade development between China and countries along the Belt and Road in 2017. In addition, what other measures does our customs have to promote the new pattern of all-round opening up? Thank you.

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. According to customs statistics, in 2017, China imported and exported 7.37 trillion yuan to countries along the Belt and Road, up 17.8% year-on-year, 3.6 percentage points higher than China’s overall foreign trade growth rate, accounting for 26.5% of China’s total foreign trade value, including 4.3 trillion yuan in exports, up 12.1%, and 3.07 trillion yuan in imports, up 26.8%. The Belt and Road Initiative conforms to the requirements of the times and the desire of countries to accelerate development. Countries along the Belt and Road jointly build the Belt and Road and share the achievements of the Five Links. We believe that trade with countries along the Belt and Road will continue to be the highlight and growth point of China’s foreign trade.

In the next step, the customs will improve the ability and level of the new pattern of comprehensive opening of services. Specifically, we will comprehensively deepen the cooperation in customs clearance among countries along the Belt and Road and actively promote the AEO mutual recognition among countries along the route; Continue to optimize customs supervision services, promote customs clearance procedures to simplify, and effectively improve the level of trade facilitation; Promote the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade, accelerate the cultivation of new kinetic energy for foreign trade development, support the development of new trade formats, support the success of China International Import Expo, actively participate in the formulation of international trade rules, make every effort to run the World Customs Cross-border E-commerce Conference, and strive to make greater contributions to the development of an open economy. Thank you.

[Hong Kong China Rating Society reporter]I’d like to ask Director Huang to introduce the import and export trade between the mainland and Taiwan Province in 2017, and also ask you to help us predict the trend of cross-strait trade in 2018. Thank you.

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. According to customs statistics, the total value of cross-strait bilateral trade in 2017 was 1.35 trillion yuan, up 14% year-on-year, accounting for 4.9% of the total foreign trade value of the mainland in that year. Taiwan Province is the seventh largest trading partner of the mainland, of which the mainland exported 297.9 billion yuan to Taiwan, up 12.2%, and imported 1.05 trillion yuan, up 14.5%. The trade deficit was 753.4 billion yuan, up 15.4%.

Peaceful and stable cross-strait relations are of great significance to the development of cross-strait trade, and we hope that cross-strait trade will develop better. Regarding the trend of cross-strait trade, I believe that as long as we eliminate the adverse effects and deepen cross-strait cooperation, cross-strait trade will develop in a healthy direction in 2018.

[International News Agency reporter]The overall situation of China’s foreign trade this year is relatively good, and there are still some uncertain and unstable factors in the field of international economy and trade. Can you tell us what these unstable and uncertain factors are? Can we make a prospect for this year’s trade export around the expansion of RMB fluctuation and some trade frictions between China and the United States? Thank you.

[Huang Songping]Let’s answer the question about the exchange rate first. As for the RMB exchange rate, we always think that it has an impact on foreign trade import and export, but the impact is limited. First, the exchange rate change is a double-edged sword for import and export. When the RMB depreciates, it will theoretically benefit the export of enterprises, but it will also increase the import cost of enterprises accordingly. Second, under the background of global value chain, due to the cross-regional upstream and downstream division of labor and intra-industry trade, the currency change of one economy and its impact on import and export will be quickly transmitted to other intra-chain economies, and then the impact on a single economy will be dispersed.

In the context of the recovery of the world economy and the uncertainty of the normalization of monetary policies in major economies, keeping the RMB exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level is conducive to stabilizing the exchange rate expectations of enterprises and promoting the steady development of foreign trade. Therefore, relevant departments in China have been actively strengthening the RMB settlement in cross-border trade and investment fields to help enterprises enhance their ability to cope with exchange rate risks.

Regarding the unstable and uncertain factors, we look at it this way. From the situation just introduced, there are many favorable conditions for China’s foreign trade development in 2018, but we should also see that the growth factors that restrict foreign trade development still exist. First, the international environment is complicated, and deep-seated and structural contradictions are still prominent in the world, which may have an impact on global economic recovery and financial market stability, and the road to world trade recovery will still be tortuous. Second, the global manufacturing competition has become more intense. On the one hand, some emerging market countries rely on low-cost advantages such as labor and land to promote the development of low-end manufacturing industries and compete with China’s traditional superior products. On the other hand, developed economies have implemented the policy of "economic rebalancing and re-industrialization" to promote the return of some high-end manufacturing industries. The global competition of manufacturing industry will be more intense. Third, global trade protectionism is still heating up. At present, the cases and amount of trade remedy investigations on products in China are still at a high level in recent years.

With regard to Sino-US trade, the United States is China’s second largest trading partner. According to customs statistics, the total value of Sino-US trade in 2017 was 3.95 trillion yuan, up 15.2% year-on-year, accounting for 14.2% of China’s total import and export value, of which exports to the United States were 2.91 trillion yuan, up 14.5%, imports from the United States were 1.04 trillion yuan, up 17.3%, and the trade surplus with the United States was 1.87 trillion yuan, expanding. In 2017, Sino-US trade achieved rapid growth. As the world’s top two economies, we hope that China and the United States will continue to deepen economic and trade cooperation, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and jointly promote global economic prosperity. Thank you.

[China News Service reporter]May I ask whether the quality and efficiency of China’s foreign trade have been improved while it is growing rapidly in 2017? In addition, what are your expectations for China’s foreign trade situation in 2018? Thank you.

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. In 2017, China’s foreign trade import and export achieved a rapid growth of 14.2%, and the quality and efficiency of foreign trade development were further improved.

First, the ability of independent development has been enhanced. The import and export of general trade with long domestic industrial chain and high added value increased by 16.8%, 2.6 percentage points higher than the overall import and export growth rate, and the proportion increased by 1.3 percentage points year-on-year. Second, trading partners are becoming more diversified. Imports and exports to traditional markets such as Europe, America and Japan increased by 14.8%, while imports and exports to emerging markets such as Latin America and Africa increased by 22% and 17.3% respectively. Third, market players are active. The import and export of all types of enterprises achieved double-digit growth, among which the import and export of private enterprises increased by 15.3%, which contributed the most to the growth of China’s total import and export value, reaching 41.2%, and the endogenous motivation of foreign trade development was enhanced. Fourth, regional development is more coordinated. The import and export of foreign trade in the central and western regions increased by 21%, which was 6.8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of national imports and exports, and its proportion in national imports and exports increased by 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Fifth, product structure optimization. The export of some high value-added mechanical and electrical products and equipment manufacturing products maintained a good growth trend, for example, the export of automobiles increased by 27.2%, computers increased by 16.6%, and medical instruments and instruments increased by 10.3%, indicating that the independent innovation ability of Chinese enterprises has gradually increased and new advantages in international competition have gradually emerged. On the import side, the import of energy resources products grew steadily, such as crude oil, iron ore and natural gas, which increased by 10.1%, 5% and 26.9% respectively. The import of some important equipment and key components of high-quality consumer goods increased rapidly, including integrated circuits, engines and CNC machine tools, which increased by 17.3%, 17.6% and 13.8% respectively.Aquatic products increased by 19.6%. On the whole, in 2017, China’s foreign trade sector firmly promoted the supply-side structural reform, and made positive progress in the transformation mode and restructuring. The import and export are shifting from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development stage.

Regarding the foreign trade trend this year, generally speaking, the world economy is expected to continue to recover in 2018, and China’s economy will continue to be stable and positive, which is more favorable for China’s foreign trade import and export. However, due to the uncertainties in the international environment and the large base last year, it is more difficult for foreign trade to maintain double-digit rapid growth. It is expected that China’s foreign trade import and export will continue to grow this year, and the quality and efficiency will be improved. Thank you.

[Australian "Sydney Morning Herald" reporter]China is an important trading partner of Australia. Can you provide us with some data about the trade between China and Australia? The trade between China and Australia on natural gas has made great progress. I wonder what the reasons are? Is the large-scale "coal to gas" in China a factor behind it?

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. In 2017, the bonus of China-Australia FTA continued to be released, and bilateral trade between China and Australia grew rapidly. The total value of China’s imports and exports to Australia was 923.41 billion yuan, up 29.1% year-on-year, which was 14.9 percentage points higher than the growth rate of China’s imports and exports in that year, of which exports were 280.56 billion yuan, up 13.9%; Imports reached 642.85 billion yuan, an increase of 37.2%. The trade deficit was 362.29 billion yuan, an increase of 63%. As Australia’s largest export market, China accounts for more than 30% of Australia’s exports. We hope that the economic and trade cooperation between China and Australia will continue to develop healthily.

Regarding the figures of natural gas imports, I don’t have the data brought from Australia here. Last year, our natural gas imports increased, and Australia is an important source, which is due to the factors of increasing domestic demand, strengthening environmental protection, "changing coal to gas" and so on. Thank you.

[German World News reporter]The question I want to ask you is, why is China importing so much crude oil and iron ore now? Considering the domestic economic situation in China, is the amount of these imports helpful for improving the quality and efficiency of China’s economy? At present, the import price has also risen dramatically, exceeding 30%, and we are not particularly able to understand the phenomenon behind it. In addition, is the reliability of these data published by the General Administration of Customs particularly high? Because we now see many reports questioning the data released by some provinces in China, such as Liaoning and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Previously, there were problems related to data with many other countries, because other countries said that their understanding of the trade deficit was far greater than the data published by the General Administration of Customs of China.

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. Why does China import a lot of iron ore, crude oil and other commodities? Because China is a big manufacturing country, it needs a lot of raw materials and energy products for production. In 2017, China’s economy is stable and the domestic demand is relatively strong, which promotes the increase of commodity imports. The rise in international market prices, on the one hand, is the global economic recovery, and the increase in demand drives the price increase, on the other hand, many commodities have certain financial attributes, and so on. There are many reasons for the rise in commodity prices. This is my answer to your first question.

Second, the accuracy of the figures of China Customs. In 2017, China’s foreign trade achieved double-digit growth, ending the negative growth trend for two consecutive years, which was mainly due to the positive factors such as the moderate recovery of the global economy, the recovery of market demand, the rebound of commodity prices, and the policy effect of steady growth of foreign trade, as well as the relatively low base, which provided conditions for the expansion of growth. Judging from the situation of inbound and outbound containers, in 2017, the customs supervised 109 million containers, up 5.9%, and supervised 680 million tons of cargo, up 6.1%, which also confirmed the trend of China’s foreign trade stabilizing in 2017. I would like to make a brief response to your concern about the accuracy of customs statistics. Customs import and export goods trade statistics is an important part of national macroeconomic statistics. We have always attached great importance to statistical quality work and regarded the truth and accuracy of data as the highest pursuit of statistical work. Based on the data such as import and export goods declaration forms, according to international statistical rules and standards, we include the goods that actually enter or leave the country and cause the increase or decrease of domestic material stock in the import and export statistics of goods trade, and use data analysis means to screen abnormal data and conduct statistical verification on enterprises whose data information is declared doubtful. At the end of 2016, 27 departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, and the National Bureau of Statistics, jointly signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on Joint Punishment of Enterprises with Serious Dishonesty in the Statistical Data Field and Relevant Personnel.Joint punishment shall be imposed on enterprises that falsify import and export information to the customs, resulting in distortion of statistical data, so as to maintain the authenticity of statistical data.

Just now you mentioned that China’s foreign trade statistics are not consistent with those of some other countries. Now most countries in the world have adopted the statistical system recommended by the United Nations Statistics Bureau, and so has China Customs. Therefore, in terms of statistical rules, China Customs has adopted the international statistical system. As for the reasons for the inconsistency, for example, the exports of various countries are generally calculated at FOB prices, and the imports are generally calculated at CIF prices, which is different. There is also the problem of re-export. For example, China’s goods are re-exported through the Netherlands. According to statistics in China, the export destination is the Netherlands, but the Netherlands is re-exported to a third country, so the statistics of China are different from those of a third country. In addition, there are differences in exchange rate conversion, statistical time and so on. These are the factors that cause the inconsistency of bilateral trade statistics.

On May 28, 2017, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China was promulgated, and we will continue to strengthen statistical work according to laws and regulations to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of import and export data. Thank you.

[Reporter of Japan Broadcasting Association]Regarding the trade relationship between China and North Korea, can you tell us something about the trade between China and North Korea in 2017?

[Huang Songping]Thank you for your question. Let me first inform you of the latest data on China-DPRK trade. According to customs statistics, in dollar terms, the total value of China’s imports and exports to North Korea in 2017 was US$ 5.06 billion, down 10.5% year-on-year, of which exports were US$ 3.34 billion, up 8.3%, imports were US$ 1.72 billion, down 33%, and the trade surplus was US$ 1.62 billion, up 2.2 times. In December, the import and export to the DPRK was US$ 310 million, down by 50.6%, of which exports were US$ 260 million, down by 23.4%, and imports were US$ 54.342 million, down by 81.6%. Thank you.

【 Attacking on the Beautiful Spring 】If you have no questions, thank you again, Director Huang Songping, and thank you. This concludes today’s press conference.