Trade prospects still upbeat

A container ship is being loaded at a dock in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Saturday. China's foreign trade was valued at about 2.07 trillion yuan ($333 billion) in June. [Photo/China Daily]

Structural reforms, new free trade zones and cross-border e-commerce to boost growth in second half

Trade prospects are expected to remain stable during the next six months, thanks to the ongoing structural reforms and decisive steps to boost growth from cross-border e-commerce and new free trade zones.

China's exports grew stronger than expected by 2.1 percent on a year-on-year basis to 1.17 trillion yuan ($188.5 billion) in June, after a 6.4 percent decline in April, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Monday.

However, imports fell by 6.7 percent to 890.67 billion yuan in June, leading to an accelerated growth in the monthly trade surplus.

Huang Songping, spokesman for the administration, said the situation is "grim and complicated" under the sluggish global economy but said the country has managed to diversify its foreign trade to weather out the tough period.

During the first six months, total value of foreign trade stood at 11.53 trillion yuan, down by 6.9 percent from a year earlier. Exports increased by 0.9 percent to 6.57 trillion yuan while imports decreased by 15.5 percent to 4.96 trillion yuan.

Even though there are challenges, Huang said China's exports still enjoy several favorable conditions, including a solid industrial foundation, a good industrial chain, fast expansion of equipment manufacturing and high-tech industries.

"Without any major negative external factors, China's foreign trade volume is projected to stage relatively steady growth in the second half of the year," Huang said during a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

Gu Xuebin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a Ministry of Commerce think tank, said though the double-digit growth era was over, exports still remain critical to the Chinese economy.

"While China has lost its global advantage in low-or even medium-end products, it continues to have a comparative advantage in economies of scale in production and in the huge domestic market," said Gu.

Although labor costs have risen substantially and are more expensive than those in some Southeast Asian nations and other emerging markets, they still remain much cheaper than in most developed economies. China has gained export strengths in medium and medium-high products with the development of technology and also moved up the value chain.

Official data show that the eastern and coastal provinces have been the mainstay of foreign trade and further expanded their advantages from January to June－with Guangdong province even outperforming the nation.