China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports surged by 10.8 percent in 2024, reflecting growing demand from international consumers for high-quality Chinese products, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry noted that China's foreign trade has shown remarkable resilience in the past year despite a challenging global environment.
The total value of China's trade in goods reached 43.85 trillion yuan (around 6.16 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, representing a 5-percent increase over the previous year. Imports saw a record-breaking rise of 2.3 percent, maintaining China's position as the world's second-largest importer for the 16th consecutive year.
The number of foreign trade entities also increased, with nearly 700,000 companies reporting import and export activities in 2024.
China's export structure continued to improve last year, the ministry said, with mechanical and electrical products accounting for 59.4 percent of total exports. The exports of energy storage products, smart home devices, and other green, low-carbon, intelligent and digital products saw rapid growth, while traditional sectors like textiles and apparel were increasingly focusing on brand development and technological enhancements.
"New business forms have demonstrated vitality. In 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports grew by 10.8 percent, contributing to 6 percent of the country's foreign trade. This allows more high-quality products to reach overseas consumers directly," said Meng Yue, deputy director of the ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
The ministry highlighted that China's trade with traditional markets continued to grow in 2024, while its trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) became an even larger portion of the total, accounting for 50.3 percent.
At present, China is a primary trade partner for over 150 countries and regions and has signed 23 free trade agreements with 30 countries and regions across five continents.
In the first three quarters of 2024, China's contribution to global import growth reached 20.3 percent, significantly boosting the recovery of the world economy.
China's cross-border e-commerce grew strongly in 2024: ministry
Rally participants gathered in the Japanese capital on Aug 9, which also marked the 81st anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, to voice strong opposition to the government's push to boost defense spending and revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the national Constitution.
Holding anti-war placards, chanting anti-war slogans, protesters warned that remilitarizing the nation would betray its pacifist ideals and endanger future generations.
"Defense spending keeps increasing. Based on Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan pledged never to wage war again, yet it keeps strengthening its military. I find this extremely dangerous. They are also trying to revise Article 9. So I believe that for the sake of future young people and children, Article 9 must never be revised. Japan decided never to repeat the mistakes of waging a war after its defeat in WWII. I think we should continue to safeguard that commitment," said a rally participant.
For many in the crowd, the shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains a powerful moral compass as they believe that militarization offers no path forward for a nation that knows the devastation of war firsthand.
"Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombings. Yet now Japan is going to deploy missiles. I believe Japan must never possess nuclear weapons," said another rally participant.
"I believe Japan has no future if it goes down the path of militarization. Nuclear weapons are absolutely bad for Japan," said a third woman, also a rally participant.
Beyond moral objections, some demonstrators said that Japan's economic vulnerabilities articulate that saber-rattling is a luxury the country cannot afford.
"I can't help but wonder what on earth a country with only a 36 percent food self-sufficiency rate would be fighting with. I have always been opposed to war, and I'm deeply dissatisfied with what the Takaichi administration is doing now," said another rally participant.
Other rally participants said that seeing revision of the Constitution could unleash unchecked military expansion, stripping away the very safeguards that have kept Japan at peace for eight decades.
"Article 9 of the Constitution is the key. If the nature of the Self-Defense Forces is elevated to a level beyond collective self-defense, which is explicitly written into the Constitution, it will allow the authority of the Self-Defense Forces to expand without limit. So no matter what, I want to prevent this from happening," said one more rally participant.
Japanese citizens rally against Takaichi's military expansion, constitutional revision
