In the first quarter, foreign trade achieved a "good start", with the import and export scale exceeding 150 billion yuan for the first time in the same historical period; the import and export to countries jointly building the Belt and Road increased by 13.4% year-on-year; the import and export of the free trade zone increased by 27.3% year-on-year...

On April 26, the Information Office of the People's Government of Hebei Province held a press conference on the foreign trade import and export situation of Hebei Province in the first quarter of 2024, announcing the overall foreign trade import and export situation of the province in the first quarter of this year.

The data shows that in the first quarter, Hebei achieved a total value of foreign trade import and export of 151.74 billion yuan (in RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of 15%, with a growth rate 10 percentage points higher than the national overall growth rate. Among them, exports were 87.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.5%, with a growth rate 10.6 percentage points higher than the national overall growth rate; imports were 63.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%, with a growth rate 9.3 percentage points higher than the national overall growth rate.

"In the first quarter, the total value of Hebei's import and export increased by 19.82 billion yuan compared with the same period last year, reaching a new high in the same historical period. At the same time, the growth rate of import and export reached a quarterly high since last year, reaching 15% for the first time." Shi Jinfeng, Deputy Commissioner of Shijiazhuang Customs, said that generally speaking, Hebei's foreign trade in the first quarter showed strong resilience, laying a solid foundation for achieving the goal of "improving quality and stabilizing quantity" for the whole year.

Facing the current complex international situation, the comprehensive competitive advantages of foreign trade enterprises in the province have been further consolidated, and import and export have continued to improve. The data shows that in the first quarter, the import and export of private enterprises was 97.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.8%, accounting for 64.5% of the total import and export value of the province. It is worth mentioning that the import and export of high-level certified enterprises (AEO enterprises) in Hebei Province was 43.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%, accounting for 28.8% of the total import and export value of the province.

The extension and expansion of the foreign trade "circle of friends" have opened up new areas for Hebei to deeply tap the potential for foreign trade growth. In the first quarter, Hebei's import and export to Australia was 24.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.4%. The import and export to ASEAN was 19.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.7%. In addition, the import and export to countries jointly building the Belt and Road was 73.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%, accounting for 48.4% of the total import and export value of the province.

Wang Yulan, Director of the Statistical Analysis Department of Shijiazhuang Customs, said that since the beginning of this year, our province has continuously strengthened trade exchanges with countries jointly building the Belt and Road and continuously optimized the trade structure. In the first quarter, Hebei's exports of steel and electric vehicles to countries jointly building the Belt and Road increased by 17.9% and 2.2 times respectively year-on-year; in the same period, the import of agricultural products from countries jointly building the Belt and Road was 2.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.3%, among which the import of dried and fresh fruits and nuts was 660 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 times.

It is worth noting that high-level open platforms have further stimulated new momentum for Hebei's foreign trade. In the first quarter, the growth rate of import and export in the free trade zones of Hebei Province was 22.3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of national free trade zones, ranking fourth in the country. Among them, the Caofeidian Area, Daxing Airport Area, and Xiongan Area achieved positive growth of 35.8%, 22.7 times, and 2.2 times respectively year-on-year. At the same time, the number of registered enterprises in the comprehensive bonded zones of Hebei Province increased by 6.3% year-on-year.

Wang Yulan introduced that in the first quarter, our province's foreign trade has strong development potential in transforming and upgrading resource-based traditional industries, consolidating and expanding emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, and laying out and building future industries such as life sciences, accumulating new advantages for further expanding high-level opening up.

In terms of exports, in the first quarter, the exports of "Hebei brand" products showed a trend of increasing quantity, expanding scale, and rising popularity. The exports of self-owned brand products in the province increased by 18.1% year-on-year, 2.6 percentage points higher than the overall export growth rate of the province. In particular, the "new three items" represented by electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products led the new export track, with exports reaching 11.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 times.

In terms of imports, Hebei has a strong demand for imported bulk commodities. In the first quarter, the import of bulk commodities was 45.8 billion yuan, accounting for 71.7% of the total import value. In addition, the imports of meat and integrated circuits were 780 million yuan and 390 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.2 times and 38.1% respectively.