China's foreign trade maintained robust growth with strong resilience and improved quality in the first three quarters of the year, backed by the country's steady economic development.
China's total imports and exports expanded 22.7 percent year on year to 28.33 trillion yuan (about 4.38 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2021, official data showed Wednesday. The figure marked an increase of 23.4 percent from the pre-epidemic level in 2019, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). Both exports and imports continued double-digit growth in the first nine months of the year, surging 22.7 percent and 22.6 percent from a year earlier, respectively.
The fundamentals of China's long-term economic growth have not changed, GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen told a press conference, noting stable domestic production and consumption demand provided strong support for the growth of China's foreign trade. As the pace of the global economy and trade picked up, demand in the international market contributed to China's foreign trade expansion, Li said, adding that price hikes of international commodities also pushed up China's imports.
China has taken a slew of measures in 2021 to ramp up foreign trade growth, including accelerating the development of new business forms and modes, further deepening reform to facilitate cross-border trade, optimizing its business environment at ports, and promoting reform and innovation to facilitate trade and investment in pilot free trade zones.
These measures have led to the continuous growth of China's foreign trade, said Li, and they not only boosted business confidence but also injected strong vitality into China's opening-up.
In the January-September period, China's trade with its top three trading partners -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union and the United States -- maintained sound growth. During the period, the growth rates of China's trade value with the three trading partners stood at 21.1 percent, 20.5 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively.
