Summary: After the release of the foreign trade performance in the first three quarters, China's strong foreign trade rebound has drawn close attention at home and abroad. In particular, imports in September reached 1.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of as much as 11.6%, setting a new monthly growth record. At a time when there is no clear turning point in the global pandemic, China's proactive expansion of imports has won praise from all sides.
After the release of the foreign trade performance in the first three quarters, China's strong foreign trade rebound has drawn close attention at home and abroad. In particular, imports in September reached 1.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of as much as 11.6%, setting a new monthly growth record. At a time when there is no clear turning point in the global pandemic, China's proactive expansion of imports has won praise from all sides.
Multiple factors drove the growth of China's imports. In September, the rapid increase in China's import value boosted the import growth rate in the third quarter and even the first three quarters. According to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs (GACC), China's imports in the third quarter reached 3.88 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.3% year-on-year. For the first three quarters, China's imports totaled 10.41 trillion yuan, only a slight decrease of 0.6% from the same period last year.
Reviewing the major imported commodities published by GACC, the fastest-growing imports in September were corn and wheat, with year-on-year growth rates of 596.6% and 573.6%, respectively. In addition, imports of pork, sorghum, cotton, steel products, and central processing units were also sizable. In the first three quarters, imports of soybeans and meat grew rapidly. Specifically, soybean imports reached 74.529 million tons, up 15.5% year-on-year; pork imports reached 3.286 million tons, up 132.2%; and beef imports reached 1.572 million tons, up 38.8%.
Wei Hao, director of the Department of International Economics and Trade at Beijing Normal University, said in an interview with International Business Daily that the rapid growth of imports in September was mainly due to four reasons. First, China's resumption of work and production proceeded smoothly, domestic demand recovered quickly, and there was huge import demand, especially with the "golden September, silver October" consumption peak, as companies needed to stock up in advance. Second, due to the pandemic, many countries implemented border closures and city lockdowns, which suppressed China's imports earlier this year. After some countries lifted restrictions, China's imports rebounded rapidly. Third, China continued to open up, promote trade balance, and share the Chinese market with the world, bringing enormous business opportunities for imports. Fourth, the evolution of China's consumption structure and the international bulk commodity market accelerated imports of certain goods; for example, global expectations of reduced grain output prompted countries to increase grain imports.
The rapid growth of imports is also inseparable from China's continued openness amid the pandemic and its efforts to accelerate trade facilitation. Li Kuiwen, spokesperson for GACC and director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis, said that GACC has comprehensively promoted facilitation measures such as "two-step declaration", "advance declaration", "green channel" and "exemption from on-site inspection", continuously improved the port business environment and improved clearance efficiency. In September, the overall national customs clearance time for imports fell month-on-month for five consecutive months, reaching 35.02 hours, a compression of 64.04% compared with 2017.
In addition, the rapid expansion of imports is related to market entities. Li Kuiwen revealed that China has continued to expand the scope of importing countries and commodities, newly approved 5,965 foreign registered enterprises, and increased support for imports of important agricultural products and foods such as meat, grain, aquatic products, and fruits. Moreover, in the first three quarters, private enterprises imported 3.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5% year-on-year, accounting for 35% of total imports.
The benefits of expanding imports are shared with the world. "Argentina is pleased to see China's economy achieve stable recovery under such a complex situation. China's strong economic recovery brings opportunities for Argentina to improve productivity and exports," said Luis Basterra, Argentina's Minister of Agriculture, during a recent visit to the Gorina beef processing plant in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. The well-known Argentine beef exporting company is making final preparations for the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE).
The reporter learned that the Gorina beef processing plant exports about 70% of its beef output to China, and this year will be its third time participating in the CIIE. The plant's average daily beef output is about 330 tons. Thanks to the strong demand from the Chinese market, its production and exports during the pandemic were basically unchanged from the same period last year.
China's policy of expanding imports is benefiting the world amid the pandemic, and the beneficiaries are far more than one country or one company.
In Wei Hao's view, the rapid growth of China's imports is of great significance to both China and global economic development, mainly in four aspects. First, expanding imports of high-quality consumer goods and intermediate goods can better meet China's production and living needs and promote high-quality development of China's economy, while also enhancing the supply guarantee capability for the global market through smooth dual circulation. Second, expanding imports can help achieve stable growth in total foreign trade, better stabilize economic growth expectations, and further promote trade balance. Third, through proactive opening-up and import expansion, China can create favorable conditions for global trade liberalization and further stabilize global trade. Fourth, expanding imports can provide more Chinese opportunities for some countries, helping to keep global supply chains unblocked and benefiting the stable economic development of other countries.
Import expansion is not a temporary measure. How should China further actively expand imports? Zhao Ping, vice president of the Research Institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said in an interview with International Business Daily that China should work on optimizing the import product structure, that is, importing goods needed for China's consumption upgrade and industrial upgrading, introducing high-quality resource factors to accelerate China's economic development, and further improving the comprehensive benefits of imports. At the same time, it is necessary to further smooth import channels and platforms, including expanding product sales channels and capturing spillover effects after the CIIE, and continuously improve the level of trade facilitation for imports.