On April 13, the State Council Information Office, P.R.C. held a press conference in Beijing to introduce the status of imports and exports in the first quarter of 2021. Li Kuiwen, the Spokesman of the General Administration of Customs of China and the Director General of Department of Statistics and Analysis of GACC, attended the conference. Photo by Zhang Yu, reporter from China News. 

During the press conference, Li Kuiwen, the Spokesman of the General Administration of Customs of China, stated that except China’s imports and exports with Singapore slightly slowed down from January to March this year, China’s imports and exports with other nine ASEAN countries has achieved a double-digit growth. Among them, China’s imports and exports with Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia increased by 37.8%, 24%, 28.7% and 32.2% respectively, driving China-ASEAN imports and exports to expand 22.6% in total.

In terms of commodities, China had a strong demand for consumer goods from ASEAN, especially agricultural products, with consumer products imported from ASEAN surging  30.6% in the first quarter. China also witnessed an apparent growth of exports of anti-epidemic materials, with doubling China’s exports of medical materials and drugs to ASEAN and exports of textiles including masks increasing 24.1% year on year during this period.

Li Kuiwen expressed that ASEAN maintained its status as China’s largest trading partner for many reasons: the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and ASEAN in 2019 was in full force and effect for all the members under the protocol, and the threshold has been further lowered in areas such as rules of origin, regulations on trade and customs clearance, services in trade and investment.

In addition, since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has established“Fast Tracks”for personnel and “Green Channels” for goods with Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and other countries, and resumed the direct international flights between Vietnam, as well as between China and other countries, which has played a positive role in safeguarding bilateral trade and development. And the continuous radiation effects of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor also fueled the growth of China’s imports and exports with ASEAN.

(Source: www.chinanews.com)