Henan's foreign trade value stood at 810.79 billion yuan in 2023, in which 528 billion yuan was contributed by exports with a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent while 282.79 by imports, resulting in a trade surplus of 245.21 billion yuan, up 30 percent from a year earlier, said Zhengzhou Customs on January 18.
In the third and fourth quarters, Henan's foreign trade value continued to grow quarter-on-quarter, and the growth rate kept expanding. The fourth quarter alone saw a quarter-on-quarter increase of 23.2 percent. Ranking 9th in China, Henan's foreign trade value in 2023 remained at an all-time high, topping other provinces in Central China for 12 years. Here are some features:
The number of foreign trade enterprises increased by more than 10 percent
The number of foreign trade enterprises with solid performance exceeded 110 thousand, up over 10 percent year-on-year. Specifically, the figures are 11,844 and 10.9 percent respectively, 1,163 higher than that of last year. Besides, the number of key foreign trade enterprises with over 50 million yuan of import and export value reached 1,039 (up 78 over last year), contributing 91.6 percent to the province's total foreign trade value.
The US, the ASEAN, the EU, South Korea and China's Taiwan region contributed over 50 percent to Henan's total
In 2023, the US, the ASEAN, the EU, South Korea and China's Taiwan region were still Henan's top five trading partners, contributing 59.4 percent to the province's total foreign trade value. During the same period, Henan's trade with the Belt and Road countries expanded 2.7 percent year-on-year to 356.76 billion yuan, accounting for 44 percent of the province's total, 2.8 percentage points higher over last year. Besides, its trade with the RCEP member countries jumped 10.7 percent compared with the figure of 2021 before the implementation of the agreement to 245.47 billion yuan, with a growth rate 5.4 percentage points higher than the national average, accounting for 30.3 percent of the province's total, 3.3 percentage points higher over 2021.
Henan's comprehensive bonded zones (areas) contributedmore than a halfof the province's total
In 2023, Henan's comprehensive bonded zones (areas) contributed 441.94 billion yuan or 54.5 percent to the province's total foreign trade value, of which 407.28 billion yuan was contributed by Xinzheng Comprehensive Bonded Zone whose foreign trade value topped other comprehensive bonded zones (areas) across China. Besides, the import and export value of Henan's bonded logistics centers expanded 10.9 percent year-on-year to 6.71 billion yuan, of which 4.09 billion yuan was contributed by Shangqiu Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) with a year-on-year increase of 9.2 percent. It is worth noting that among all the pilot free trade zones (areas) across Henan, Kaifeng's import and export value and Luoyang's grew rapidly, rising 94.4 percent and 21.1 percent to 6.19 billion yuan and 6.98 billion yuan respectively.
Exports of automobiles, human hair products grew rapidly
In 2023, 342.74billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products were exportedwith a year-on-year increase of 5.3 percent, accounting for 64.9percent of the province's total export value, of which 240.62billion yuan was contributed by mobile phones, accounting for 45.6 percent. Notably, 25.82billion yuan of automobiles were exported during the same period, up 106.5percent from a year earlier. Besides, labor-intensive products worth 33.33billion yuan were exported with a year-on-year increase of 4.8percent, of which 9.36 billion yuan was made by furniture while 19.97billion yuan by human hair products, each increasing 19.7percent and 16.8percent.The export of agricultural products reached 19.15 billion yuan, up 8.3percent.
The increasing export of automobiles, human hair products and agricultural products was the highlight of Henan's export businesses in 2023, pulling up the overall export growth rate by 3.4 percentage points. Besides, as for the new drivers, in 2023, Henan's exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells totaled 7.69 billion yuan, an increase of 22.9 percent from a year earlier, with a growth rate significantly higher than the province's average export growth rate (2.4 percent).
Imports of metal oresand agricultural products increased significantly
In 2023, 174.66 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products were imported, accounting for 61.8 percent of the province's total import value. The import of metal ores reached 53.78 billion yuan, up 21.9 percent year-on-year, of which 18.97 billion yuan was contributed by copper concentrates, up 8.9 percent; 18.85 billion yuan by precious metal ores, up 49.8 percent; 11.42 billion yuan by iron ores, up 18.4 percent. Besides, 12.14 billion yuan of agricultural products were imported, rising 16.2 percent, of which 3.21 billion yuan was made by meats, up 44.1 percent, and 2.21 billion yuan by soybeans, up 57.2 percent.
9 prefecture-level cities's foreign trade value exceeded 15 billion yuan
Zhengzhou (552.23 billion yuan), Jiyuan (37.81 billion yuan), Xuchang (27.16 billion yuan), Luoyang (24 billion yuan), Nanyang (23.73 billion yuan), Sanmenxia (23.14 billion yuan), Jiaozuo (22.14 billion yuan), Puyang (17.6 billion yuan) and Xinxiang (15.24 billion yuan) contributed 91.6 percent to Henan's total foreign trade value, of which 68.1 percent was made by Zhengzhou alone. As for growth rate, Hebi (160.9 percent), Kaifeng (51.0 percent) and Luohe (33.9 percent) were top three in the province. (Chinese source: dahe.cn Reporter: He Zhiquan Translator: Zhao Hanqing & Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Chen Xingjie)
