China's foreign trade increases 7.9% in first four months

(ECNS) -- China's total imports and exports value amounted to 12.58 trillion yuan ($1.87 trillion) in the first four months of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent, official data showed Monday.

Exports grew 10.3 percent year-on-year to 6.97 trillion yuan, while imports expanded 5 percent to 5.61 trillion yuan in the first four months, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The number of foreign trade enterprises with actual performance increased 4.7 percent year-on-year, said Li Kuiwen, director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis of the General Administration of Customs

Customs statistics show that China’s foreign trade structure continued to be optimized in the first four months, with general trade imports and exports reaching 8.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.2% year-on-year.

China's imports and exports to ASEAN, the EU, the U.S. and Korea were 1.84 trillion yuan, 1.73 trillion yuan, 1.56 trillion yuan, and 764.92 billion yuan, up 7.2 percent, 6.8 percent, 8.7 percent and 8.4 percent year-on-year, respectively. ASEAN remains China's largest trading partner, making up 14.6 percent of its total foreign trade.

During the same period, the total imports and exports between China and the countries along the Belt and Road increased 15.4 percent to 3.97 trillion yuan, 7.5 percentage points higher than overall growth, while trade with the other 14 member countries of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership climbed 3.9 percent to 3.84 trillion yuan.