China's Trade April 2023

According to data from China's General Administration of Customs on May 9th, China’s international trade with the rest of the world grew by 5.8 per cent in the first four months of 2023 with exports increasing by 10.6 per cent year on year.

The data shows that in April, Chinese’ foreign trade expanded by 8.9 per cent on a monthly basis, with exports rose by 16.8 per cent and imports slightly decreased by 0.8 per cent.

China's trade grew especially with the emerging regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, in the January-April period.

Trade with the 54 African countries increased by 17.5 per cent, while with the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew by 14 per cent, and trade with countries belonging to the Latam region, which includes Mexico, Central America and all of South America recorded a 10 per cent growth.

China's trade with the European Union expanded by 4.2 per cent, while with the United States fell by 4.2 per cent.

Regarding data in yuan, not influenced by exchange rates, imports of products from the European Union to China increased the most from France (19 per cent), the Netherlands (10 per cent), and Italy, which according to Chinese customs data grew by 7.4 per cent, above the EU average (5.9 per cent). According to Italian Istat data, which differs in terms of customs incoterms, shipping times, and other attribution criteria, Italian exports to China in March 2023 increased on an annual basis by 26.3 per cent.