July Trade Surplus Rebounded   

By Lily Wang     

On August 11th, 2008 the General Administration of Customs of China announced China's foreign trade in July 2008. The total import and export value was US$248.07 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%. The export value rose 26.9% to US$136.67 billion while the import value rose 33.7% to US$111.4 billion. The monthly trade surplus rebounded to US$25.27 billion in July from US$21.35 billion in June, hitting a new high since 2008. "The rebound in trade growth in July is attributed to the continuing robust growth in exports and it is related to the upward export rebates for textiles and clothes effective August 1st, 2008", analysts said.
   The strong July exports data showed China's trade is optimistic despite the gloomy global economic prospects.
   In the first seven months of 2008, China's foreign trade amounted to US$1.48 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%, in which the export value increased 22.6% to US$802.91 billion while the import value was up 31.1% to US$679.2 billion. The total trade surplus was US$123.72 billion, a decrease of US$13.1 billion or 9.6% year-on-year.
    "Although the slowdown global economy, the demand for China's exports is still remarkable," said an economist, "The real import growth was also strong, showing the domestic demand remains sound."
     An insider expressed the exporters face pressure although Chinese currency's appreciation rate has been slowed and the export rebates for textiles and clothes has been raised.
   In the first seven months of 2008, the trade by general trade mode rose 36.3% to US$720.5 billion, of which US$348.13 billion for import, up 49.8% year-on-year. The trade by mode of processing with supplied materials was US$607.14 billion, up 15.8% year-on-year.
   In the past seven months of 2008, the foreign trade by foreign-invested firms, state-owned enterprises and other companies in China achieved US$817.64 billion (up 21.9%), US$363.21 billion (up 32.8%) and US$301.27 billion (up 31.9%) respectively.
   The European Union continued to be China's largest trade partner in the first seven months of 2008, with bilateral trade of US$243.14 billion, up 27.9% year-on-year. The trade surplus against the European Union was US$86.94 billion, up 24.9%. The USA ranked the second with bilateral trade of US$189.11 billion, up 13.2%. The trade surplus against the USA was US$91.67 billion, up 3.8%. The third was Japan with bilateral trade of US$154.93 billion, up 19.2%. The trade deficit against Japan was US$23.98 billion, a year-on-year increase of US$7 billion. The bilateral trade between China and India was US$33.52 billion, up 63.8%.
    The export value of mechanical and electric products was up 25.7% to US$464.22 billion in the previous seven months of 2008. The export value of plastic products was US$8.33 billion, down 1%.
    China exported 260 thousand tons of crude oil and 1.64 million tons of oil products in July. China exported 2.63 million tons of crude oil and 9.52 million tons of oil products in the first seven months of 2008.
    Import value of primary products continues to go up fast, driven by the growing import prices. In the first seven months of 2008, the import value of primary products reached US$221.65 billion, a year-on-year increase of 70.6%. The imported chemicals and related products valued at US$73.71 billion, up 22.5% year-on-year.
   China imported 13.79 million tons of crude oil and 4.37 million tons of oil products this July, and totaling imported 104.32 million tons of crude oil and 25.38 million of oil products in the first seven months of 2008, up 8.3% and 16.7% respectively. China imported 247 thousand units of automobile in the previous seven months, up 48%.