China's private enterprises have posted year-on-year foreign trade growth for 22 straight quarters, driving sustained momentum in the national economy, a senior customs official said Monday.
At a press conference in Beijing, Wang Jun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said that in the first three quarters of this year, private enterprises registered imports and exports totaling 19.16 trillion yuan (around 2.69 trillion U.S. dollars), marking a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent. Exports and imports grew by 8.8 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. "As of the third quarter of this year, private enterprises have achieved year-on-year growth in imports and exports for 22 consecutive quarters. Particularly this year, despite severe challenges posed by a complex external environment, private enterprises have consistently led in import and export growth. In the first three quarters, the private sector contributed 4.3 percentage points to China's overall foreign trade growth. It accounted for 57 percent of the nation's total foreign trade value, up two percentage points year-on-year, and maintained its position as China's largest foreign trade entity," said Wang.
Wang noted that private firms not only led overall trade growth, but also expanded their global reach and high-tech exports in key markets and sectors.
"In the first three quarters, the imports and exports of China's private enterprises to more than 180 countries and regions worldwide outpaced the overall growth. On the export front, shipments to emerging markets such as ASEAN, Africa, and Central Asia grew by 14 percent, 27.3 percent, and 11.8 percent respectively, while growth to traditional markets like the EU and Japan also exceeded the overall number. In the first three quarters, exports of high-tech products by private enterprises increased by 15.3 percent, accounting for 54.2 percent of China's total exports of similar goods, an increase of 1.6 percentage points. Currently, private enterprises account for nearly 80 percent of China's high-end machine tool exports, over 70 percent of its lithium battery exports, and almost 60 percent of its medical device exports," Wang added.
Private firms remain main driver of China's foreign trade growth for 22 quarters running
