China has maintained its status as the world’s second-largest importer for 16 straight years, despite a minor decline in imports in the first quarter of this year, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) reported Monday.
At a press briefing in Beijing, the GAC said that China's imports fell six percent to 4.17 trillion yuan (about 571.85 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year.
Lyu Daliang, director of the General Administration of Customs (GAC)'s Department of Statistics and Analysis, attributed the decrease in import growth to several factors. He explained that the decline in international commodity prices had a significant impact during the first quarter. Average import prices for iron ore and coal dropped by over 20 percent, while crude oil and soybeans saw decreases of 5.7 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively. Together, these price declines reduced the overall import growth rate by 2.6 percentage points, Lyu said.
The GAC official also noted that the first quarter of this year had two fewer working days compared to last year, resulting in a slowdown of import growth by approximately two percentage points. Despite the decline, Lyu noted that domestic industrial production expanded rapidly, boosting imports of parts, components, and equipment.
Lyu pointed out that China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) remained in the expansion range in March, reflecting continued growth in manufacturing activities. He highlighted robust production and demand in industries such as computers, communication equipment, and other electronic devices, as well as railway, ship, aerospace, and other transport equipment. As a result, imports of key parts, components, and high-tech equipment registered overall increases.
Meanwhile, China's imports of automatic data processing equipment parts and components, and ships and marine engineering equipment in the first quarter increased by 95.6 percent and 52.5 percent respectively, he said.
Lyu highlighted that the consumer market is steadily improving, fueling a rise in imports of consumer goods. He stressed that the consumption boom during the Spring Festival demonstrated the vitality of China's consumer market. In the first quarter, the import of daily necessities saw growth, with the import value of edible oil increasing by 12.1 percent and the import volume of dried and fresh fruits and vegetables rising by 8.3 percent. "China is the world's largest manufacturing country and the second largest consumer market. It has complete industrial sectors, and a complete and well-supported industrial system. At the same time, it has a more than 1.4 billion population, with a middle-income group of more than 400 million people. Various consumer scenarios are booming. Whether from the perspective of industrial production or residents' consumption, the market demand is huge. In particular, China has always insisted on expanding high-level opening up, orderly expanding independent and unilateral opening up, and actively expanding imports, to share development opportunities with the world. We have maintained our position as the world's second largest importer for 16 consecutive years, with an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent, and the global import share has steadily increased from 7.9 percent to 10.5 percent. At present and in the future, China has huge potential for import growth. The vast Chinese market always offers great opportunities for the world," Lyu said.
China retains rank as world's second-largest importer for 16 consecutive years: official
