China trade economy File photo: VCG

China's total imports and exports expanded at the fastest pace in six quarters to hit a record of more than 10 trillion yuan ($1.38 trillion) in the first quarter of 2024, according to official data on Friday, adding to a growing number of signs of strong recovery momentum in the world's second-largest economy.

In line with the overall accelerating economic recovery, China's foreign trade is expected to continue to grow in the first half of the 2024, Chinese officials said on Friday, expressing confidence in the full-year recovery, while pushing back against Western claims such as overcapacity in China. Chinese exporters also remain confident in further improvement this year. 

While China's foreign trade faces pressure and challenges stemming from slowing external demand and so-called de-risking and decoupling moves promoted by some Western countries, the critical status of Chinese manufacturing and China's supply chain in the global industrial chain has not changed, experts said.

In the first three months, in yuan terms, total imports and exports grew by 5 percent year-on-year to reach 10.17 trillion yuan, exceeding 10 trillion yuan for the first time during the same period, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). The growth speed is also the fastest in six quarters. During the period, China's exports increased by 4.9 percent year-on-year to 5.74 trillion yuan, while imports grew by 5 percent year-on-year to 4.43 trillion yuan, the GAC said.

Though total foreign trade dropped by 1.3 percent year-on-year in March, with exports falling 3.8 percent year-on-year due to a high base during the same month last year, China's exports maintained a solid growth momentum, according to officials and experts. 

"China's foreign trade had a strong start and good momentum in the first quarter, laying a solid foundation for achieving the goal of improvement in quality and stability in quantity," Wang Lingjun, deputy head of the GAC, said at a press briefing on Friday.

In terms of products, exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 6.8 percent year-on-year to hit 3.39 trillion yuan, accounting for 59.2 percent of the total export value. Exports of cars and ships jumped by 21.7 percent and 113.1 percent, according to the GAC. 

Also underscoring the solid recovery of China's foreign trade, imports and exports in the private sector grew by 10.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, accounting for 54.3 percent of China's total imports and exports.

"In fact, this is what we have been discussing since the beginning of this year: generally speaking, business is definitely better this year than last year. For many businesses in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they are all seeing growth," Zhu Qiucheng, CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, an exporter of pet furniture and home furnishing products, told the Global Times on Friday, noting that companies engaged in cross-border e-commerce in particular have seen great business this year. 

According to the GAC, imports and exports through cross-border e-commerce jumped by 9.6 percent in the first quarter. 

Meanwhile, China's trade with ASEAN expanded by 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024 in yuan terms, but trade with the EU dropped by 3.5 percent and trade with the US fell 0.7 percent. Notably, exports to the US grew 2.1 percent year-on-year, while imports from the US fell 7.7 percent, according to official data. China's trade with Russia also maintained a solid 8.5 percent growth, with imports from Russia jumping 10.8 percent.  

"This latest data demonstrated that China's manufacturing industry and the real economy are recovering," Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Friday, noting that other strong economic indicators such as manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) also showed a strong recovery momentum.

China's official manufacturing PMI, a main gauge of factory activity, stood at 50.8 in March, returning to expansion territory for the first time since September 2023. Also, a private survey showed that China's factory activity expanded for a fifth consecutive month in March and at the fastest pace in a year, beating market expectations.

"The vitality in foreign trade in the first quarter is mostly supported by a strong recovery in domestic consumption as well as manufacturing," Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday.

China's solid recovery in foreign trade comes as the US and some other Western countries have also been stepping up crackdowns against Chinese firms and products such as new-energy vehicles and solar panels, asserting that overcapacity in China in these areas poses a threat to their economies and even the global economy. Chinese officials and experts have firmly responded to such baseless accusations. 

At the press briefing on Friday, Wang also said that falling producer prices do not necessarily mean there is overcapacity, because a series of factors such as raw material prices and innovation could lead to lower prices. "Chinese products are widely popular around the world because of their innovation and quality," Wang said. 

At the press briefing on Friday, Wang also noted that while unfavorable factors such as geopolitical tensions and trade protectionism still exist, bringing certain difficulties and challenges to foreign trade, many favorable factors are also emerging, including an expected rebound in global trade this year. However, Wang said that China's trade is expected to further improve in the second quarter and continue to grow in the first half of the year.