On the morning of the 10th, the State Council held a press conference where the spokesperson from the General Administration of Customs, Zheng Yuesheng, provided an update on China's trade performance in 2012. According to official customs data, China's total foreign trade volume reached $3.86676 trillion in 2012, reflecting a 6.2% increase compared to the previous year. This marked a steady but slower growth rate than in earlier years.
Exports for the year totaled $2.04893 trillion, up by 7.9%, while imports amounted to $1.81883 trillion, rising by 4.3%. This resulted in a trade surplus of $231.1 billion, a significant increase of 48.1% over the previous year. December saw record-high import and export volumes, with the total reaching $366.84 billion—a 10.2% rise from the same month the prior year. Exports in December hit $199.23 billion, up 14.1%, while imports reached $167.61 billion, increasing by 6%. The trade surplus for the month was $31.62 billion, a 91.8% increase.
Throughout 2012, the overall growth rate of China’s goods trade slowed compared to 2011, which had seen a much higher growth rate. The annual trend showed a gradual slowdown followed by stabilization. Quarterly performance showed improvement, with a rebound after a low point in the third quarter. In the first four quarters of 2012, China's import and export values were $859.46 billion, $979.69 billion, $1027 billion, and $1,024.91 billion, respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 7.3%, 8.5%, 3%, and 6.3%.
In 2012, several key trends emerged in China's foreign trade:
First, general trade remained stable, while processing trade grew more modestly. General trade accounted for $2.00983 trillion, a 4.4% increase, representing 52% of total trade. Exports under general trade rose 7.7% to $988.1 billion, while imports increased by 1.4% to $1,021.82 billion. The trade deficit under this category narrowed by 62.6% to $33.81 billion. Processing trade totaled $1,349.5 billion, up 3%, or 34.8% of total trade. Exports under processing trade reached $862.78 billion, up 3.3%, while imports were $481.17 billion, up 2.4%. The trade surplus in this segment was $381.61 billion, up 4.5%.
Second, trade with the EU and Japan declined, while trade with the U.S., ASEAN, and other regions showed growth. Bilateral trade with the EU fell to $546.04 billion, down 3.7%, while trade with the U.S. reached $484.68 billion, up 8.5%. Trade with ASEAN grew by 10.2% to $400.9 billion, and with South Korea by 20.5% to $341.49 billion. However, trade with Japan dropped to $329.45 billion, down 3.9%. Trade with Russia and Brazil increased by 11.2% and 1.8%, respectively.
Third, the top seven provinces and cities—Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Fujian—accounted for nearly 80% of China's foreign trade. Guangdong led with $983.82 billion in trade, up 7.7%. Jiangsu and Beijing reported $548.09 billion and $407.92 billion, respectively, with growth rates of 1.6% and 4.7%. Shanghai saw a slight decline at 0.2%. Meanwhile, the central and western regions experienced rapid export growth, with provinces like Chongqing, Anhui, Henan, and Sichuan reporting exports that surged by 94.5%, 56.6%, 54.3%, and 32.5%, respectively.
Fourth, private enterprises saw strong growth in trade. Their total import and export value reached $122.106 billion, up 19.6%, outpacing the national average by 13.4 percentage points. Private enterprises accounted for 31.6% of total trade, with exports rising 21.1% to $769.91 billion and imports growing 17.2% to $451.15 billion. Foreign-invested enterprises contributed $189.4 billion in trade, up 1.8%, but their share fell slightly to 49%. State-owned enterprises saw a 1.2% drop in trade volume, totaling $751.71 billion, with exports declining 4.1% and imports rising 0.3%.
Fifth, mechanical and electrical products and traditional labor-intensive goods continued to drive exports. Mechanical and electrical exports reached $179.42 billion, up 8.7%, accounting for 57.6% of total exports. Labor-intensive products, including clothing, textiles, footwear, and toys, totaled $418.89 billion, up 8.6%, making up 20.4% of total exports. Steel exports rose 14% to 55.73 million tons, and car exports increased by 20.1% to 990,000 units.
Finally, energy and resource imports grew significantly. China imported 740 million tons of iron ore, up 8.4%, though at a lower average price of $128.6 per ton, down 21.6%. Soybean imports rose 11.2% to 58.38 million tons, with prices up 5.8% to $599.3 per ton. Imports of mechanical and electrical products reached $782.38 billion, up 3.8%, including 1.13 million vehicles, up 9.1%.
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