Trade activities of China
China is located in East Asia, with a large area of 9.6 million square kilometers (ranked 4th in the world after Russia, Canada, and the United States). China has land borders with 14 countries and territories, a long coastline, and many large ports, which is convenient for exchanging goods by sea with various countries in the region and around the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and North America.
For many years, China has been known as the country with the highest total import and export value in the world (exports ranked first, imports ranked second only after the United States). According to ITC Trademap, in 2022, China's total export and import turnover reached 6,310 billion USD (approximately 35% of China's GDP), of which exports reached 3,594 billion USD and imports reached 2,716 billion USD. .
Table 1 - China’s import-export turnover in the period 2013 – 2022
Unit: billion USD
|
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
Import |
1,950.0 |
1,959.2 |
1,681.7 |
1,588.7 |
1,841.0 |
2,135.0 |
2,066.5 |
2,057.0 |
2,675.7 |
2,716.0 |
|
Export |
2,209.0 |
2,342.3 |
2,281.9 |
2,119.0 |
2,271.8 |
2,494.2 |
2,498.3 |
2,588.4 |
3,361.8 |
3,593.6 |
|
Trade Balance |
259.0 |
383.1 |
600.2 |
530.3 |
430.8 |
359.2 |
431.8 |
531.4 |
686.1 |
877.6 |
Source: ITC Trademap, 2023
Imports
China is the second largest import market in the world (just behind the United States), accounting for about 10.8% of the world's import share in 2022. Over the past decade, although China's import turnover has fluctuated, the general trend is upward. Specifically, China's import value increased from 1,950 billion USD in 2013 to 2,716 billion USD in 2022.
During the COVID-19 period (2019-2020), China's import turnover decreased but the reduction was not significant. In the period 2021-2022, China's import value recovered and achieved impressive growth, increasing by 30.1% (2021) and 1.5% (2022), respectively.
China's main imported products are machinery, equipment and vehicles (chapters 84, 85, 97, 90), accounting for about 37% of China's total imports. In addition, China also imports a lot of minerals such as mineral fuels, ores, and gemstones (Chapters 26, 27, 71), accounting for about 32% of China's total import value.
Table 2 - Top 10 imported products of China in 2022
|
No. |
Main imported products of China |
Import turnover in 2022 (billion USD) |
Proposition in total imports |
|
1 |
Chapter 85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles |
644.69 |
23.7% |
|
2 |
Chapter 27: Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes |
535.34 |
19.7% |
|
3 |
Chapter 26: Ores, slag and ash |
224.72 |
8.3% |
|
4 |
Chapter 84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof |
202.15 |
7.4% |
|
5 |
Chapter 71: Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, preciousmetals, metals clad with precious metal and articles thereof; immitation jewellery; coin. |
103.70 |
3.8% |
|
6 |
Chapter 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof |
82.03 |
3.0% |
|
7 |
Chapter 87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof |
80.82 |
3.0% |
|
8 |
Chapter 39: Plastics and articles thereof |
75.19 |
2.8% |
|
9 |
Chapter 74: Copper and articles thereof |
68.71 |
2.5% |
|
10 |
Chapter 12: Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder. |
68.61 |
2.5% |
Source: ITC Trademap, 2023
Exports
China is currently the largest export market in the world, accounting for about 14.7% of global exports in 2022. During the period 2013-2022, China's export turnover continuously increased, from 2,209 billion USD in 2013 to 3,593 billion USD in 2022 (ITC Trademap, 2023). Even during the pandemic (2019-2022), China's exports still increased with an average annual growth rate of 10.1% during this period.
For many years, China has always maintained a large export surplus in the world. In 2022, China's trade surplus was 877.6 billion USD, 3 times higher than the surplus of 259 billion USD in 2013.
China mainly exports machinery, electrical/mechanical equipment, and vehicles (chapters 84, 85 and 87), with export value accounting for nearly half of China's exports to the world (46.1%). In addition, China also exports many products such as plastics, iron and steel, chemicals, furniture, toys and consumer products...
Table 3 - Top 10 export products of China in 2022
|
No. |
China’s main export products |
Export turnover in 2022 (billion USD) |
Proposition in total exports |
|
1 |
Chapter 85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles |
954.78 |
26.6% |
|
2 |
Chapter 84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof |
551.95 |
15.4% |
|
3 |
Chapter 87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof |
150.24 |
4.2% |
|
4 |
Chapter 39: Plastics and articles thereof |
143.53 |
4.0% |
|
5 |
Chapter 94: Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; lamps and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like; prefabricated buildings. |
130.89 |
3.6% |
|
6 |
Chapter 73: Articles of iron or steel |
110.31 |
3.1% |
|
7 |
Chapter 95: Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof. |
103.33 |
2.9% |
|
8 |
Chapter 29: Organic chemicals |
101.89 |
2.8% |
|
9 |
Chapter 61: Articles of apparel and clothing accessories knitted or crocheted. |
90.94 |
2.5% |
|
10 |
Chapter 72: Iron and steel |
77.26 |
2.2% |
Source: ITC Trademap, 2023
Source: Center for WTO and International Trade
