Import and Export Rise SharplyBoth China's imports and exports saw remarkable growth during this year's first eight months. However, the foreign trade sector should not be blindly optimistic about the rest of the year.Statistics from the General Administration of Customs revealed China's exports surged 34.6 per cent to US$159.3 billion, and imports rose 39.2 per cent to US$142.4 billion during the January-August period of this year. The country's trade volume for the first eight months of this year, a total of US$301.7 billion with accumulative surplus of US$16.9 billion, reported a year-on-year increase of 36.7 per cent from the same period last year. "The gratifying achievements for exporters might be partially attributed to the supportive policies of the country,''an unidentified official with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation told Business Weekly. Exports have been increasing since last July, when the government raised the tax rebate rate. That also explains why general trade retained a much higher growth rate than the processing trade, the official said. But, he pointed out that the high rate of increase was based on a comparatively low base last year. He predicted that the annual average increase rate for this year will be lower than that of the first eight months. "The increase rate is expected to slow in September,'' he said. A declining trend can already be detected -- July's increase, 24 per cent compared to last July, was lower than rates for the first half of this year. "Along with the export volume rising, the country should pay much attention to optimize the trade structure,'' Zhang Guilin, professor with the University of International Business and Economics, told Business Weekly. In August, machinery and electronics exports kept growing fast, up 40.7 per cent from the same month last year to US$66 billion. But the 27.4 per cent year-on-year export increase in August fell from the 35.8 per cent growth rate of the first seven months of 2000. Meanwhile, exports of high-tech products with high added-value has not seen huge increases. China's monthly exports and imports in August hit record highs of US$23.3 billion and US$20.8 billion, while the value of monthly imports went up 54.6 per cent from last August, a change that Zhang attributed to burgeoning domestic demand and booming exports. "Price hikes of crude oil and non-ferrous metals on the international market also helped drive up China's imports,'' Zhang said. Meanwhile, domestic and foreign negative influences also affected China's foreign trade sector. "In the international market, China is facing ever-increasing competition and trade protectionism,'' Zhang indicated. According to official statistics, from last year's January to June of this year, the number of anti-dumping cases against China reached 63. While in the domestic market, a export tax rebate swindle, smuggling, arbitrage and unreasonable price competition are still a problem. |
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