Trade in goods exceeds US$4t
Print Edition
China’s trade in goods passed the US$4 trillion mark for the first time in 2013, confirming its position as the world’s biggest trading nation, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.
Exports rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier and imports gained 7.3 percent, putting China’s trade at US$4.16 trillion last year, up 7.6 percent on an annual basis.
The trade surplus settled at US$259.7 billion, up 12.8 percent from 2012.
In December, China’s exports expanded 4.3 percent to US$207.7 billion, down from November’s jump of 12.7 percent. Imports increased 8.3 percent to US$182.1 billion, picking up from the pace of 5.4 percent in the previous month.
“China’s exports slowed at a faster-than-expected pace in December but imports were solid,” said Zhou Hao, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
Zhu Haibin, chief economist for China at JPMorgan, said December exports highlighted rising demand from the European Union.
“Overall, the sequential trend in China’s export growth has been rising at a decent pace in recent months, suggesting China’s export sector is benefiting from the current upturn in the global economy.”
Although 2013’s trade growth missed the 8 percent target set by the government, volume was a record high and effectively confirmed a historic geo-economic shift, according to AFP.
The US total trade in goods was lower than that of China in 2012, according to earlier reports, but the Customs said that due to differences in calculating methods the actual change happened for the first time in 2013, although full US figures for the year have yet to be released, AFP said.
The EU remained China’s biggest trading partner in 2013, followed by the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“Being the world’s biggest trading nation, China still has a long way to go in sharpening its overall competitiveness,” said Xue Jun, an analyst at CITIC Securities Co.
Premier Li Keqiang emphasized the importance of the external sector in November as it involved more than 100 million jobs, suggesting that Chinese authorities were concerned about declining trade competitiveness due to yuan appreciation, shrinking demand and rising production costs.
China’s 2013 trades surplus, the highest since the global financial crisis, may add pressure on the yuan’s appreciation as a result, said Li Maoyu, a Changjiang Securities Co analyst.
The yuan strengthened by more than 3 percent against the US dollar in 2013, beating market expectations, and Li expected further appreciation this year.
China’s 2013 trade performance came after a mixed performance by the economy, with a slowdown in recent months following some vigor in the third quarter.
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