China's imports have ample room to grow steadily in the new year as the world's second largest economy is committed to further opening up to share its vast market and abundant development opportunities with the world, a senior customs official said on Monday.
In 2024, China's total goods imports and exports reached 43.85 trillion yuan (about 6.1 trillion U.S. dollars), up 5 percent year on year, reaching a new high, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
Exports grew 7.1 percent year on year to 25.45 trillion yuan last year, while imports expanded 2.3 percent from one year earlier to 18.39 trillion yuan, the data showed.
Lyu Daliang, director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis under the General Administration of Customs, explained several reasons why imports lagged exports in the second half of 2024.
"China's import performance in the second half of last year was the result of various factors at play. Influenced by international commodity prices, China experienced declines in the prices of major commodities during the latter half of last year, such as crude oil and iron ore, decreasing by 9 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. These price drops exerted a certain restraint on import value growth. Additionally, some countries politicized economic and trade issues, abusing export control measures to unjustly restrict exports to China; otherwise, China might have imported more," said Lyu.
Last year, China imported nearly three billion tons of bulk commodities, over seven trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, and nearly 1.8 trillion yuan of consumer goods, the GAC said.
According to the World Trade Organization, in the first three quarters of 2024, China's exports accounted for 14.5 percent of the global total while imports accounted for 10.5 percent, a year-on-year increase of 0.3 and 0.1 percentage points respectively, consolidating China's position as the world's largest trading nation in goods.
Lyu also said there is substantial room for stable import growth in 2025 as China boasts a huge market with great potential and remains committed to expanding imports to share its development opportunities with the world.
"By 2030, imports from developing countries alone could surpass 8 trillion U.S. dollars. As China's domestic demand expands on all fronts and voluntary and unilateral opening up enlarges in an orderly manner, the country's vast market will undoubtedly bring the world greater opportunities and a wider array of choices," he said.
China's imports have ample room to grow in 2025: official
