China's total goods trade reached 43.85 trillion yuan (about 6 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking a 5 percent year-on-year increase and topping the world for eighth consecutive years, according to data released by the country's General Administration of Customs on Monday.
As the scale of China's import and export of goods hit a record high, manufacturing accounted for 98.9 percent of the country's total exports.
On Monday, the world's largest and latest generation of offshore wind power installation vessel was delivered for export in Yantai City of east China's Shandong Province. Built by a Chinese enterprise, the vessel is designed to transport and install the next generation of offshore wind turbines.
"The vessel features a methanol fuel storage tank with a capacity of approximately 3,000 cubic meters, which can reduce its carbon emissions by at least 78 percent," said Yu Chuntao, head of the manufacturing company.
In order to ensure a timely delivery of the vessel, local customs authorities have been actively exploring and innovating supervision services.
"We have established a classification database for nearly 100 types of marine parts, which has more than doubled the customs clearance efficiency. In 2024, Yantai Customs supervised the export of marine engineering equipment worth over 14 billion yuan, representing an increase of more than eight times year on year," said Li Zhen, an official from the Yantai Customs.
Northeast China's Jilin Province has used green and circular production methods and innovative business models to enable its specialty agricultural products to make inroads into the international market.
"In 2024, the export of Jilin's specialty agricultural products such as pine nuts, pine mushroom and sweet corn demonstrated strong momentum, with an increase of over 20 percent, and the export value accounted for 15 percent of the national total. Jilin's specialty agricultural products are also rapidly expanding in the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as the province exported to five more BRI countries in 2024, with the export trade volume growing by 40 percent," said Li Huiqiu, director of the Statistics Department of Customs of Changchun, the provincial capital.
In 2024, China's exports exceeded the 25 trillion-yuan hallmark for the first time, standing at 25.45 trillion yuan with a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent, growing for the eighth consecutive year, according to the customs statistics.
China is not only the world's largest manufacturing country but also the largest exporter of manufactured goods.
In 2024, the country's export of equipment, consumer goods and raw materials reached 14.69 trillion yuan, 5.43 trillion yuan and 3.12 trillion yuan, respectively.
China's goods trade tops world for 8th consecutive year: data
