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E-mail China.org.cn, February 24, 2025
21st Century Business Herald:
We have noticed that China's foreign trade "circle of friends" has been expanding in recent years. Could you share the key highlights of China's foreign trade with its various trade partners in 2024? Thank you.
Wang Lingjun:
Thank you for your question. China advocates for a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, maintaining trade partnerships all around the world. As I mentioned earlier, we are a primary trade partner for over 150 countries and regions worldwide, ranking among the top three. Moreover, this number continues to rise. Last year, our foreign trade performed remarkably well with both old partners and new friends. These highlights include:
The proportion of China's imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries exceeded 50% for the first time. Last year, China's imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries grew by 6.4%, making up 50.3% of its total import and export value. Among them, exports increased by 9.6% and imports increased by 2.7%. Along the Belt and Road, a path to global well-being, "Made in China" effectively aligns with the production and consumption needs of Belt and Road partner countries, while their high-quality specialty products continuously flow into the Chinese market. It is worth mentioning that the China-Europe Railway Express surpassed 100,000 trips last year. The train from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany, on Nov. 15, 2024, was the 100,000th. This "fleet of steel camels" in the new era has created a new chapter in the Silk Road.
Most of the trade volume came from emerging markets, including ASEAN. China has continuously promoted East Asian cooperation and regional economic integration, and strengthened industrial chain cooperation with ASEAN, maintaining import and export growth with ASEAN for nine consecutive years, and being each other's largest trading partner for five years in a row. The BRICS cooperation mechanism has continued to grow, with China's imports and exports to other BRICS member countries and partner countries rising by 5.5%. Additionally, China has continued to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Latin America, Africa, the five countries of Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe, with imports and exports increasing by 7.2%, 6.1%, 7.2% and 7.5%, respectively. The contribution of the above-mentioned markets to the growth of China's foreign trade reached nearly 60%, making them a key driving force behind the growth of China's foreign trade.
Traditional markets such as the EU and the U.S. also continued to grow. The EU is China's largest source of consumer goods imports and the largest export market for our mechanical and electrical products. The economic and trade ties between the two sides are close, continuously strengthening the bonds of a China-EU community of shared interests. In 2024, bilateral trade grew by 1.6%, with trade with France, Spain and Hungary increasing by 2%, 4.5% and 12.9%, respectively. During the same period, trade between China and the U.S. grew by 4.9%, roughly in line with our overall trade growth rate. We imported agricultural products, energy products, pharmaceuticals and aircraft from the U.S., and exported clothing, consumer electronics and household appliances to the U.S., achieving mutual benefits. Thank you.
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