SCIO briefing on China's imports, exports in first 3 quarters of 2025

Dazhong Daily:

From the perspective of trade patterns, what are the import and export figures for the processing trade in the first three quarters? What development trends have emerged? Thank you.

Wang Jun:

Thank you. The processing trade is an important trade model that links domestic and international dual circulation. Since 2010, China's annual import and export volume under the processing trade has remained above 7 trillion yuan. In the first three quarters of this year, imports and exports under the processing trade reached 6.18 trillion yuan, growing 6.9% year on year and accounting for 18.4% of China's total foreign trade value. The contribution to import and export growth exceeded 30%. Among China's exports, 60% of laptops and 70% of game consoles were exported under the processing trade model.

I would like to highlight a few positive developments in the processing trade since the beginning of this year. The first positive development is that the processing trade has continued to advance into higher value-added segments. In the first three quarters, high-tech products accounted for 32.6% of processing trade exports, up 0.4 percentage point year on year. This share was higher than the overall high-tech product export average. An increasing number of enterprises are becoming specialized and innovative "little giants" by deeply cultivating niche fields and driving technological innovation. The second positive development is that the shift of processing trade to different regions has yielded remarkable results. Imports and exports under the processing trade in the central and western regions reached 1.56 trillion yuan, up 11.9%, accounting for 25.7% of the regions' total foreign trade value. This share was 7.3 percentage points higher than the national average. Among them, exports of flat panel display modules, electrical equipment and medical instruments all recorded rapid growth. The third positive development is that market diversification in the processing trade has improved. Imports and exports under the processing trade with Belt and Road partner countries increased 13.9%, 7 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of the processing trade.

Customs will continue to introduce measures to support the high-quality development of the processing trade and continuously innovate regulatory models. These efforts will facilitate the expansion of the processing trade into new business forms, such as bonded maintenance and bonded leasing, injecting fresh momentum into its development. Thank you.