China's Foreign Trade Sees A Strong Start With An 8.7% Increase in The First Two Months

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- In the first two months of this year, China's foreign trade achieved a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, marking a strong start. Interviewed companies and experts indicated that the foreign trade order situation at the beginning of the year exceeded expectations, looking forward to the export performance in 2024. It is expected that the export of new energy and other high-value-added products will continue to achieve high growth.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on March 7, in the first two months of 2024, China's total import and export value of goods trade reached 6.61 trillion yuan, up 8.7% year on year. Among them, exports were 3.75 trillion yuan, up 10.3%, and imports were 2.86 trillion yuan, up 6.7%.

"The goods trade continued the positive trend since the fourth quarter of last year, achieving a year-on-year increase for five consecutive months, and the scale of imports and exports reached a new high for the same period in history, marking a good start," said Lv Daliang, director of the Statistical Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs.

Feng Lin, director of research and development at Orient Securities, analyzed that against the backdrop of a higher export base in the same period last year, exports continued to maintain high-speed growth in the first two months of this year, showing strong export momentum at the beginning of the year.

Feng Lin believes that the recovery of external demand is an important factor for the exceeding expectation of exports in the first two months. Since the beginning of this year, the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI index, which measures the global economic climate, has remained above the boom-bust line, ending the previous continuous 16 months of contraction, showing marginal improvement in external demand at the beginning of the year.

Gao Shiwan, director and spokesperson of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, introduced that in the first two months of this year, the export of mechanical and electrical products continued the year-on-year growth momentum since the fourth quarter of last year, reaching a new high for the same period in history, demonstrating strong resilience. The better-than-expected performance suggests that the export of machinery and electronics will continue to show supply resilience in 2024, with export growth expected for the whole year.

Many foreign trade companies said that the new order situation at the beginning of the year exceeded expectations, looking forward to the export performance in 2024.

"At the end of February, we finalized a project with American customers, totaling $300 million," said Wang Lei, president of Shengwei International. "The finalization of this project marks a new step for the company's business, and we are full of expectations for the export performance in 2024."

"During the Spring Festival, we did not rest but actively developed cross-border e-commerce business, seizing a wave of traffic dividends," said Yang Jing, the operations manager of Shandong Zhongmoshen Machinery Co., Ltd., a merchant on Alibaba International Station. "During the Spring Festival holiday, the company made work plans in advance to ensure communication with customers as soon as possible, not missing any order opportunities. The company's order situation at the beginning of the year is very good, looking forward to this year's export performance."

Faced with a complex external environment, many foreign trade companies have increased product research and development and market exploration efforts to improve core competitiveness.

"To achieve growth against the trend, companies must increase product innovation and research and development efforts to create products with high cost-performance and unique selling points," said Wu Xinhe, marketing director of Shenzhen Pulsewave Times Technology Co., Ltd. "We believe that with increased investment in research and development and the launch of more innovative products, the growth of export business this year is still very much expected."

"Foreign trade companies are actively expanding international markets and are eager to participate in exhibitions and investigations abroad at the beginning of the year. Despite facing a complex external environment, companies have firm confidence in taking orders and expanding markets, and the foundation for achieving annual growth targets remains solid," said Gao Shiwan.

Industry experts believe that in 2024, the export of products represented by the "new three" - electric passenger vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar batteries - will continue to grow at a high rate, promoting further optimization of the export structure.

Feng Lin said that in the first two months, China's car exports continued to be high, and the new momentum of exports continued to be strong. "The continuous high-speed growth of car exports is backed by the significant increase in the global market share of China's new energy vehicles, including in developed economies such as the European Union."

"On Alibaba International Station, new energy passenger cars, golf carts, electric motorcycles, and electric car