According to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on Thursday, China's exports in October surged by 12.7% year-on-year, far exceeding the expected 5% increase and surpassing last month's 2.4% growth. The strong export performance increased the trade surplus to $95.27 billion, significantly exceeding the expected $73.5 billion and well above the $81.71 billion recorded last month. This result was due to robust overseas demand and strong domestic production in China, leading to significant export growth, while weak domestic demand caused a decline in imports.
The data shows that in October, China's imports fell by 2.3% year-on-year, a larger decline than the expected 1.5%, reversing the 0.3% growth trend of the previous month. Mechanical and electrical products remained the largest component of exports, with cumulative exports in the first ten months reaching 12.36 trillion yuan, an 8.5% year-on-year increase. Among these, exports of ships, automobiles, and motorcycles grew by 74.9%, 20%, and 24.6% respectively, demonstrating the competitiveness of China's manufacturing sector in the global market.
Private enterprises performed outstandingly in exports, accounting for 64.3% of the national export total, with an export volume of 13.37 trillion yuan in the first ten months, marking a 9.3% year-on-year increase. In contrast, foreign-invested and state-owned enterprises showed relatively inferior import and export performance. The total import and export volume of foreign-invested enterprises slightly increased by 1.3%, while that of state-owned enterprises fell by 0.5% year-on-year.
On the international market front, ASEAN continued to be China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling 5.67 trillion yuan in the first ten months, marking an 8.8% year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, trade with the EU, the U.S., and South Korea grew by 1.2%, 4.4%, and 6.7%, respectively. In addition, trade with other RCEP members, BRICS countries, and Latin America also showed a growth trend, reflecting China's emphasis and active planning for diversified trade partnerships.
Overall, China's foreign trade performed strongly driven by overseas demand, but weak domestic demand still exerted some pressure on imports. Amidst the continuous changes in the global economy, the future direction of China's trade remains uncertain, but the data from October indicates that China's position in the global supply chain remains stable.
