BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) — China’s customs data showed Thursday that the country’s total goods imports and exports expanded 2.1 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first half of 2023.
The country saw goods imports and exports exceeding 20 trillion yuan (about 2.8 trillion U.S. dollars) for the first time in the January-June period, according to the General Administration of Customs.
Exports grew 3.7 percent year on year to 11.46 trillion yuan while imports edged down 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 8.64 trillion yuan, the data showed.
China has seen its economic performance picking up on the whole despite a severe and complex external environment, while the volume and quality of its foreign trade improved steadily and in line with expectations in the first six months of the year.
The goods imports and exports in the first and second quarters reached 9.76 trillion yuan and 10.34 trillion yuan, respectively, with both registering year-on-year growth, according to the data.
Data also revealed that China’s foreign trade had maintained an upward trajectory in the first half of the year.
The imports and exports recorded in the second quarter was 6 percent higher than that of the first quarter. Both May and June registered 1.2 percent month-on-month increases.
The scale of private enterprises’ imports and exports grew notably in the January-June period, increasing 8.9 percent year on year to 10.59 trillion yuan. The volume represented 52.7 percent of the country’s total.
The import and export volumes of foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises accounted for 30.7 percent and 16.4 percent of the country’s total, respectively.