Photo:VCG

China's foreign trade in the first half of the year has set a new high, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.1 percent to 21.17 trillion yuan ($2.9 trillion), indicating a positive momentum in the country's foreign trade as well as improvement of the national economy.

The data were released before the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which will be held from July 15 to 18 in Beijing. The plenum will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reforms and advancing Chinese modernization.

According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Friday, the country's foreign trade for the first time in the same period in history exceeded 21 trillion yuan. Moreover, the growth rate of the country's foreign trade accelerated quarter by quarter, as it grew 7.4 percent in the second quarter, 2.5 percentage points higher than the first quarter and 5.7 percentage points higher than the fourth quarter of last year.

Imports in January-June period totaled 9.04 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent year-on-year and exports stood at 12.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.9 percent year-on-year.

Exhibitors display fruits from Thailand during the 20th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Photo:Xinhua

In the first half of the year, ASEAN maintained China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade value reaching 3.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5 percent, accounting for 15.9 percent of China's total foreign trade. The EU was the second largest trading partner, but bilateral trade value declined 0.7 percent. The US became the third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade increasing 2.9 year-on-year.

South Korea was the country's fourth largest trading partner in the period, and total value between the two countries reached 1.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.6 percent. The trade deficit with South Korea rose by 14.3 fold, GAC said.

During the same period, China's foreign trade with partner countries of the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 10.03 trillion yuan, up 7.2 percent.

In the first half of the year, Chinese private enterprises excelled in foreign trade, with import and export totaling 11.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.2 percent, which accounts for 55 percent of the total value of the country's foreign trade, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the same period last year.

GAC noted that electromechanical products accounted for nearly 60 percent of the country's exports, and automatic data processing equipment and its components, integrated circuits, as well as auto exports, continued to grow.

From January to June, China's exports of electromechanical products reached 7.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.2 percent, accounting for 58.9 percent of the total value of exports. Among them, exports of automatic data-processing equipment and its parts and components totaled 683.77 billion yuan, representing an increase of 10.3 percent. Exports of integrated circuits rose 25.6 percent to 542.74 billion yuan, and exports of automobiles stood at 391.76 billion yuan, soaring 22.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Global Times