China's trade with other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies reached a historic high, hitting 21.27 trillion yuan (2.95 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of 2024.
According to China Customs, trade with other APEC economies grew by 5.7 percent year on year, out-pacing China's overall trade growth rate by 0.5 percentage points.
Among those, China's trade with Vietnam, Peru, Malaysia and Mexico saw a growth rate of 17.4 percent, 16.8 percent, 12.1 percent and 11.7 percent respectively, while trade with China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan island increased by 11.3 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
China's exports of intermediate goods to other APEC economies grew by 8.4 percent to 5.56 trillion yuan in the first 10 months, accounting for 45.4 percent of its total exports to other APEC economies.
Export of intermediate goods of electronic components, auto parts, accessories for automatic data processing equipment and flat panel display modules registered notable growth of 17.3 percent, 8 percent, 24.8 percent and 24 percent respectively.
During the same period, China also exported a large amount of consumer goods to other APEC economies. For example, textile and apparel exports totaled 906.88 billion yuan, up 3.9 percent; fruit and vegetable exports reached 92.87 billion yuan, up 10.6 percent; furniture and television exports amounted to 181.85 billion yuan, an 8.9 percent increase; and passenger vehicle exports reached 212.35 billion yuan, a sharp growth of 21.6 percent.
In the first ten months, China imported 7.23 trillion yuan worth of intermediate goods from other APEC economies, an increase of 3.5 percent, accounting for 80.2 percent of China's total imports from other APEC economies. Specifically, imports of electromachinery amounted to 2.88 trillion yuan, a growth of 9.6 percent; energy products reached 1.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.6 percent; and metal ores totaled 945.1 billion yuan, a growth of 6.4 percent.
Trade between China, other APEC economies sets new record in Jan-Oct period
Trade between China, other APEC economies sets new record in Jan-Oct period
Trade between China, other APEC economies sets new record in Jan-Oct period
The Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Monday held an event in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital, to celebrate the launch of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.
Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng said that over the past seven decades, under the joint guidance of leaders from both sides, China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges have continued to expand, yielding fruitful outcomes.
Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Wu said China and Africa need to uphold fairness and justice, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, and enhance exchanges and cooperation more than ever before.
Taking the launch of the China-Africa Year of People-to-people Exchanges as an opportunity, Wu called for upholding the original aspiration of friendship, solidifying the foundation of cooperation, enhancing two-way efforts, and accelerating the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, South Africa's deputy minister of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, said South Africa and China enjoy strong and historic bonds of friendship as close international cooperation partners in the political, economic, social, technical and multilateral domains.
"The significance of people-to-people is really about how we elevate the people's life to a just and equitable stance that we want to see. We want a better Africa; we want a better world. And that for us is significant," said Letsike.
"Through people-to-people exchanges, we promote mutual understanding, and that is the basis of building mutual trust, building peaceful coexistence. People-to-people exchange is a very important instrument for peace and mutual understanding," said Bongani Maimele, director of international relations with South Africa's National School of Government.
The opening ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was held at the African Union headquarters on Jan 8. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides will jointly host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities in 2026 to enhance exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, and promote mutual understanding and connection between the peoples.
Organizing the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important consensus reached by leaders from both sides at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2024.
Chinese Embassy in South Africa unveils 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges
