Private Firms Are China’s Biggest Foreign Traders for a Second Year
Xu Wei
DATE:  Jan 14 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Private Firms Are China’s Biggest Foreign Traders for a Second Year Private Firms Are China’s Biggest Foreign Traders for a Second Year

(Yicai Global) Jan. 14 -- Private companies were China’s largest foreign traders last year for a second year in a row, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs said today.

Privately owned businesses imported and exported goods worth CNY14.98 trillion (USD2.3 trillion) in 2020, an 11.1 percent increase, accounting for 46.6 percent of the country’s total foreign trade, up 3.9 percentage points from 2019, Li Kuiwen said.

Their exports jumped 12.3 percent to CNY9.99 trillion, while imports rose 8.8 percent to CNY4.99 trillion, Li said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Private sector exports to the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea climbed 14.9 percent, 23.4 percent, 12.9 percent, and 18.6 percent respectively. Those to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations jumped 15.1 percent.

Chinese exporters have benefited from higher overseas demand for medical products and other goods, ranging from personal computers to comfortable clothing, as people work from home during the global coronavirus pandemic.

China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world climbed 27 percent last year to a record USD535 billion in dollars terms, official customs data showed today. Total trade was worth USD4.65 trillion, up 1.5 percent. Exports in goods and services rose 3.6 percent to USD2.59 trillion, while imports fell 1.1 percent to USD2.06 trillion.

The GAC will continue to issue more-targeted and further inclusive support measures to help the development of private enterprises, Li said.

Editor: Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   Private companies,Trade