Better export performance expected from China

According to statistics released by China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) last Thursday, China's export leading indicator, which had already seen a 0.4 increase from February to March, stands at 41.9 in April, up by 0.2 from the previous month, indicating a clearer upward trend for China's foreign exports in the coming period.

The import and export data made public on Thursday shows China's trade with the European Union, the United States, ASEAN and Japan on the rise in the first four months of 2014, with bilateral trade between China and the EU taking the lead with an 8.5 percent increase. But bilateral trade volume between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong totaled 632.9 billion yuan, down by 33.1 percent from last year.

Figures also show that the structure of China's foreign trade is trending in the right direction. The proportion of general trade continued to grow in the first four months this year, accounting for 55.1 percent of the total 8.1 trillion yuan trade volume, up by 4.9 percentage points over the same period last year, whereas the percentage of processing trade decreased by 1.1 percentage points from last year's 32.6 percent.

In addition, due to an improved investment environment, China's central and western regions are becoming increasingly active exporters, with Gansu, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Guangxi registering respectively growth rates of 73.6, 62.2, 40.0, 40.6, and 36.6 percent in the first four months.

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