The Chinese mainland’s foreign trade rose 3.5% year on year in the first eight months of this year, reaching 29.57 trillion yuan (about $4.12 trillion), according to customs data released Monday.
ASEAN remained the top trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at 4.93 trillion yuan, up 9.7% and accounting for 16.7% of the mainland’s total trade. The European Union ranked second at 3.88 trillion yuan (+4.3%), while the US was third at 2.73 trillion yuan, which marked a 13.5% decline.
Partnerships under the Belt and Road framework also drove growth, with combined imports and exports to partner countries hitting 15.3 trillion yuan, a 5.4% increase that represents more than half of the mainland’s foreign trade.
High-tech sectors fueled the exports surge. Mechanical and electrical products exports climbed 9.2% to 10.6 trillion yuan, making up 60.2% of total exports. Within this segment, integrated circuits jumped 23.3%, automobiles grew 11.9%, and automatic data processing equipment edged up 0.6%.
As global markets shift toward digital and green technologies, these figures highlight the mainland’s evolving export mix and its deepening ties with key trade regions.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
