Gloomy external demands bring out Ningbo's resilience in foreign trade
- Details
- Category: Ningbo Business
- Published: Monday, 19 June 2023 14:48
Faced with the challenges brought by weak external demands, Ningbo's foreign trade continues to show its great tenacity.
According to data released by Ningbo Customs on June 12, Ningbo achieved an import and export volume of 111.37 billion yuan in May this year, an increase of 1.7% compared with the same period of last year, reaching the level of 100 billion yuan for three consecutive months. Among others, the export value exceeded 70 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%; and the import volume exceeded 40 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%.
In the first five months, the total import and export volume of foreign trade in Ningbo was 514.19 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to the previous four months. To be specific, the export value was 334.33 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%; and the import volume was 179.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%.
Since the beginning of this year, the external environment has been severe and complex, and factors such as weak external demands have brought huge challenges to the development of Ningbo's foreign trade. According to a related person in charge from Ningbo Customs, under heavy pressure, various foreign trade enterprises have actively sought for changes, accelerated digital and green transformation, and strived to grab orders abroad.
As a result, the resilience of Ningbo's foreign trade continues to emerge, presenting a number of highlights. The business entities are making steady progress, and the proportion of import and export volume of private enterprises exceeds 70%. In the first five months, private enterprises in the city remained to be the main force in import and export, achieving a total import and export volume of 380.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, accounting for 74.1% of the total import and export volume of the city during the same period, which has played a positive role in stabilizing the scale and optimizing the structure of foreign trade.
The import and export trends of the European Union and the United States have diverged, and there is also significant growth in some emerging markets. From January to May, the European Union and the United States were the top two trading partners for Ningbo, with the import and export values of 90.65 billion yuan and 83.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.5% and 10.9%, respectively. But in May, Ningbo's import and export volume to the European Union increased instead, with a year-on-year increase of 3.2%.
During the same period, ASEAN continued to maintain its position as the third largest trading partner of Ningbo, with a total trade volume of over 60 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of nearly 3%. The import and export volumes to Russia, Mexico and Turkey increased by 100.2%, 46% and 25.8% respectively year on year.
With the promotion of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China-CEEC cooperation has achieved remarkable results. Data show that in the first five months, Ningbo's import and export volume to countries along the "Belt and Road" route was 166.1 billion yuan, up by 11.9% year on year, accounting for 32.3% of the total import and export volume in the same period. In particular, driven by the third China-CEEC Expo, Ningbo's import and export volume to the Central and Eastern European countries reached nearly 21 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%.
In the first five months, the products of solar cells, new energy vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries performed well, with the export volumes of 7.71 billion yuan, 4.54 billion yuan, and 2.91 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 33.2%, 95.6%, and 39.3%, respectively. During the period, Ningbo imported 18.65 billion yuan of consumer goods, a year-on-year increase of 23%
