New advantages of traditional industry export

With the recovery of China's economy in the third quarter, developed economies such as Europe and the United States have also embarked on a moderate growth track, and China's foreign trade import and export performance has also shown a trend of stabilization and recovery.

Foreign trade increased by 7.8% in the first 10 months

According to the latest news from the Ministry of Commerce, in the first 10 months of 2013, my country's total import and export value was 21.16 trillion yuan (equivalent to 3.4 trillion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 7.6% after deducting exchange rate factors. %. Among them, exports were 11.2 trillion yuan (equivalent to 1.8 trillion US dollars), an increase of 7.8%; imports were 9.96 trillion yuan (equivalent to 1.6 trillion US dollars), an increase of 7.3%; trade surplus was 1.25 trillion yuan (equivalent to 200.46 billion US dollars), Expand 12%.

The foreign trade operation in the first 10 months mainly showed the following characteristics:

1 It is the growth of trade with the European Union, the United States and ASEAN. From January to October, bilateral trade between China and the EU, the United States and ASEAN increased by 0.5%, 6.9% and 10.9% respectively; among which, exports to the EU in October increased by 12.6%, and exports to the United States increased by 8.6%, respectively higher than the national export growth rate. 7 and 3 percentage points; exports to ASEAN increased by 10.8%, and the growth rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than that of the previous month. From January to October, the two-way trade between the mainland and Hong Kong increased by 22.1%. During the same period, the total value of bilateral trade between China and Japan fell by 7.0%, but exports to Japan increased by 5.2% in October, maintaining positive growth for two consecutive months.

In October, exports to the European Union and the United States both showed strong growth, which is a reflection of the economic recovery in Europe and the United States. The U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has risen strongly to a record high of 56.4 in October after hitting a low of 49.2 in April. Although the EU PMI fell from a 27-month historical high of 52.2 in September, it was still in a good growth range at 51.9.

Brazil, Russia and other emerging market countries experienced exchange rate and current account confusion in the middle of the year, but they have gradually stabilized. However, it is foreseeable that the trend of declining demand in emerging markets will not end in the short term, so exporters need to continue to pay close attention to the increase in demand in traditional markets in Europe and the United States.

Secondly, the import and export of the eastern region grew steadily, and the export of the central and western regions was active. From January to October, the total import and export value of the eastern region was 2943.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 6.8%, accounting for 86.6% of the total import and export value. From the perspective of exports, the export growth rates of Ningxia, Qinghai, Yunnan, Heilongjiang and other provinces in the central and western regions were 66.9%, 61.5%, 37.6% and 342.3% respectively, significantly higher than the overall growth rate of my country's exports over the same period.

The eastern region is still the absolute center of China's exports, and the rapid export growth of Ningxia and other border provinces in the data of the Ministry of Commerce reflects the export growth potential of these regions. With the strategy of rebuilding the "Silk Road Economic Belt" proposed by decision-makers, the growth of foreign trade in the central and western regions is one of the opportunities.

Third, general trade grew steadily, while processing trade slowed down. From January to October, my country's general trade imports and exports reached US$1,796.35 billion, an increase of 8.5%, accounting for 52.8% of my country's total imports and exports during the same period. Among them, the general trade export in October was 91.3 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.9%; the import was 88.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 18.5%, and the growth rate was 4 percentage points higher than that of the previous month, hitting a new high since March 2012. From January to October, the import and export of processing trade was US$ 1,103.37 billion, an increase of 0.5%, accounting for 32.5%.

Fourth, the export of mechanical and electrical products has grown steadily, and the export of traditional labor-intensive products has a good growth trend. From January to October, my country's export of mechanical and electrical products reached 1,029.3 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.6%, accounting for 57.2% of my country's total export value during the same period. The export of high-tech products was 535.37 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.8%. During the same period, the export of seven categories of labor-intensive products, including textiles, clothing, luggage, footwear, toys, furniture, and plastic products, reached US$377.85 billion, an increase of 10.0%, which was 2.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of my country's exports over the same period. In October, the total exports of seven categories of labor-intensive products totaled US$39.8 billion, an increase of 7.3%, and the growth rate was 4.4 percentage points higher than that of the previous month.

The good growth in the export of traditional labor-intensive products shows that although the traditional "Made in China" has lost its absolute price advantage, its advantages other than price are still irreplaceable by other countries. Simply put, the experience and advantages accumulated in production efficiency, supply chain convenience, R&D and design are all new advantages of China's traditional manufacturing industry.

For example, in the textile and apparel industry, according to Pan Chensheng, founder of China Textile Network, from the perspective of labor prices, China is indeed unable to compete with Bangladesh, Myanmar and other countries, but China's mature supply chain and technological advantages have been developed for decades. What these countries cannot match, such as Bangladesh, can only manufacture relatively low-end and simple clothing, and high-end clothing processing is still China's strength.

In the upstream textile industry, China has greater advantages. Due to higher requirements for machinery and capital, Mengjiala and other countries cannot establish a mature textile industry, which is also an advantage of China's textile and garment industry.