China's foreign trade data for the first four months of the year has been officially released, showing a 14.9% year-on-year growth in goods trade imports and exports. This performance continues the stable and positive development trend seen in the first quarter, with impressive results exceeding international market expectations. Observations such as "China's foreign trade growth remains strong," "export momentum continues to be released," and "development resilience is once again highlighted" reflect the world's recognition of the solid foundation and steady progress of the Chinese economy. Through this foreign trade report card, the international community has gained a deeper understanding of China's development resilience and its capacity for measured advancement.
Foreign trade serves as a vital window for observing the vitality of the Chinese economy and a dynamic vehicle through which China contributes to global development through its own growth. Despite facing headwinds and countercurrents in the external environment, China's foreign trade has delivered an excellent report card characterized by substantial volume, optimized structure, and numerous highlights. In the first four months, the total value of China's goods trade imports and exports reached 16.23 trillion yuan, with April alone recording 4.38 trillion yuan in imports and exports, demonstrating robust growth momentum and solid development strides.
During this period, the advantages of China's vast domestic market continued to be unleashed, driving double-digit growth in imports. The accelerated pace of transformation and upgrading in the manufacturing sector has provided strong support for the steady release of export momentum. The vitality of foreign trade entities has continued to surge, with private enterprises playing a stable and pivotal role in stabilizing foreign trade, and the willingness of foreign-invested enterprises to participate has steadily rebounded. Some international media have noted that China's foreign trade has started the year with strong momentum and solid progress, laying a solid trade and economic foundation for a favorable start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
The continuous gathering and strengthening of new growth drivers are accelerating the transition of China's foreign trade from "volume growth" to "quality improvement." In the first four months, high-tech and high-value-added mechanical and electrical products accounted for 63.5% of total exports. Among these, exports of advantageous new growth products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and wind turbine generators all increased by over 40%, while exports of industrial robots grew by 30%. This reflects the accelerated shift of Chinese manufacturing towards innovation, green development, and intelligence, continuously climbing the value chain. Simultaneously, China's imports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 23.6%, with imports of automatic data processing equipment and its components, as well as integrated circuits, increasing by 55.9% and 43.5% respectively, indicating the accelerated gathering of global innovation factors in China.
Relying on continuously improved market procurement trade pilot programs and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones that cover most of the country, new trade formats such as offshore trade and bonded maintenance are flourishing and gaining momentum. New industries, technologies, and models are continuously reshaping the growth pattern of China's foreign trade, while also injecting strong momentum into the stability and upgrading of global industrial and supply chains.
The more challenging the global economic recovery, the more important it is to adhere to the path of open cooperation and mutual benefit. China persists in implementing a market diversification strategy, continuously cultivating traditional markets while vigorously exploring emerging markets, thereby expanding its circle of economic and trade cooperation. In the first four months, China's imports and exports with emerging markets such as ASEAN and Latin America maintained rapid growth of over 15%, while trade with traditional markets like the European Union and South Korea remained stable with an upward trend. The benefits of China's zero-tariff measures for Africa are gradually being realized, with bilateral trade exceeding 800 billion yuan for the first time during the same period. African specialty products are enriching the Chinese consumer market, while high-quality Chinese products are empowering Africa's development and construction. The deep integration of "exporting to China" and "purchasing from China" reflects China's unwavering commitment to high-level openness, continuously signaling to the world its dedication to mutually beneficial cooperation and shared prosperity.
Building a strong trading nation, improving the quality and efficiency of foreign trade, and promoting balanced development of imports and exports are inherent requirements for China's pursuit of high-quality development, as well as its responsibility in promoting an open world economy. China's total goods trade volume has ranked first globally for nine consecutive years, with its share of international import and export markets remaining stable. From continuously improving foreign-related economic and trade institutional rules to steadily expanding pilot free trade zones and advancing institutional openness; from actively implementing free trade agreements and deepening regional economic cooperation to participating in global trade governance and promoting the improvement of multilateral trade rules, China is taking concrete actions to uphold the multilateral trading system and support the stable development of global trade.
The quality of foreign trade reflects the resilience of the Chinese economy and demonstrates the stability of the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. A China committed to high-quality development remains a reliable and stable force in a turbulent world, continuously creating opportunities, conveying hope, and gathering momentum for the global community.
