Many countries' exports have declined recently
According to the data, China's import and export volume in July this year reached 482.92 billion U.S. dollars, a decline of 13.6 percent.
Among them, the total export volume was 281.76 billion US dollars, a decline of more than 14.5%; The total import volume was 20.16 billion US dollars, down by 12.4 percent. The trade surplus was $80.6 billion, narrowing by 19.4 percent.
Exports fell 0.3 percent in July, the first decline since February 2021, while imports fell 13.5 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since September 2020, according to a Finance Ministry report. Japan posted a trade deficit of Y78.7bn in July, compared with a surplus of Y43bn in June.
According to data released by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea's exports in July fell 16.5% from a year earlier to $50.33 billion, the tenth consecutive month of decline and the biggest decline since May 2020.
August's export slump has not changed significantly, the first 20 days of exports fell 16.5%, imports fell 27.9%, the trade deficit of 3.566 billion US dollars.
German exports to non-EU countries fell 1.1 per cent to €59.8bn in June. Imports were €52.6 billion, down 3.7 percent from the previous month.
For more than three years, the German export industry has "never been as bad as now", and foreign trade is no longer a solid support for German economic growth, but has become a hindrance.
'The world economy is in danger'
The collective cold reception of major trading countries is mainly due to the weak recovery of the current world economy and the overall downturn in overseas demand.
According to a report released by the World Bank in June, global economic growth is expected to be 2.1% this year, up 0.4 percentage points from the January forecast, but still lower than 3.1% in 2022.
In addition to individual economies, the overall growth of the global economy this year and next year is weak and still in an unstable state. Indermit Gill, chief economist and senior Vice President of the World Bank Group, said bluntly, "The world economy is at risk."
The repeated "de-risking" policy of the United States has also hindered normal trade flows. For example, the recent export of chips, the main export product of South Korea, has shrunk significantly, which is directly related to the depression of the chip market in the United States under the "decoupling and chain breaking" strategy.
Weak external demand is tantamount to a "stress test" for major economies, which will further widen the gap between countries' trade strength.
China's foreign trade has a promising future
Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said that in the overall downturn in the global economy and trade, those who can stand out are truly competitive trade powers.
Huo Jianguo, vice president of the China World Trade Organization Research Council, said that the foundation and resilience of China's export-oriented economic development are still strong.
The successful experience of more than 40 years of reform and opening up has proved that developing an open economy has brought great changes to China, and China's foreign trade, foreign investment, overseas investment and the Belt and Road Initiative have all achieved rapid development.
From the perspective of foreign trade, the current "new three types" of China's exports continue to maintain high growth, and private enterprises accounting for more than 60% of exports have also maintained positive growth, which has strengthened our confidence and determination to stabilize exports.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that China's automobile exports are a bright spot in recent years, especially the export of new energy vehicles has maintained a high growth for several years, which is gratifying in the overall pressure on foreign trade, indicating that the manufacturing capacity and level of China's new energy vehicles have been greatly improved, and has formed a strong international competitiveness.
Zhao Guangbin, senior economist at Pricewaterhousecoopers China, said the current difficulties facing China's foreign trade should be short-term, and when the global economy and trade recover, China's economy and foreign trade will also recover. This is because, as the world's factory, China's manufacturing scale and advantages are difficult to replace.
With a view to the future, as China actively connects with the world's rules, regulations, management and standards, we will accelerate high-level opening-up and strengthen institutional opening-up.
Empowered by the 21 pilot free trade zones across the country and the Hainan Free Trade Port, coupled with the accelerated construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's foreign trade will surely walk on a bright road with a higher starting point, higher quality and higher level of development.
