According to the latest statistics released by the General Administration of Customs on May 9th, China's total import and export value of goods trade in the first four months of this year reached 16.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%, continuing a positive growth trend.

In April alone, the total import and export value of goods trade was 4.38 trillion yuan, up 14.2% year-on-year. Exports amounted to 2.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.8%, while imports reached 1.9 trillion yuan, rising 20.6%.

For the January-April period, the total import and export value stood at 16.23 trillion yuan, marking a 14.9% year-on-year growth. Exports totaled 9.33 trillion yuan, up 11.3%, and imports were 6.9 trillion yuan, increasing by 20%.

During the first four months, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 5.92 trillion yuan, growing 17.6% and accounting for 63.5% of the country's total exports, an increase of 3.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Notably, exports of green and low-carbon products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and wind turbine generators surged by 68.1%, 43.2%, and 40.7% respectively, while exports of industrial robots grew by 30%.

Private enterprises demonstrated strong vitality in foreign trade during this period. Their import and export value reached 9.31 trillion yuan, a 15.9% increase, accounting for 57.4% of China's total foreign trade value and maintaining their position as the largest foreign trade entity.

In the first four months, trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 8.28 trillion yuan, up 13.5%. During the same period, trade with ASEAN and the European Union reached 2.75 trillion yuan and 2.01 trillion yuan respectively, growing 15.7% and 13.2%.

In the first quarter, China's service exports increased by 11.2% year-on-year. Notably, exports of travel services and imports of transport services experienced rapid growth.

The total import and export value of services in the first quarter was 1,822.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. Service exports amounted to 704.52 billion yuan, rising 11.2%, while service imports were 1,118.38 billion yuan, decreasing by 2.6%. The service trade deficit narrowed by 100.15 billion yuan compared to the same period last year.

Structurally, trade in knowledge-intensive services accounted for 43.5% of the total service trade in the first quarter. Exports of knowledge-intensive services maintained relatively fast growth at 6.1%. Among these, personal cultural and entertainment services and financial services grew the fastest, with increases of 25.6% and 16.1% respectively.

Furthermore, exports of travel services and imports of transport services saw rapid expansion. In the first quarter, exports of travel services grew by 32.3% year-on-year, the fastest among all service export sectors. Imports of transport services increased by 22.8% year-on-year, the fastest growth among the top five service import categories by scale.

In April, the China Logistics Prosperity Index was 49.7%, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. The new orders sub-index, however, rose month-on-month for the second consecutive month. New order indices for the postal and express delivery, road transport, railway transport, and air transport sectors all showed month-on-month improvement.

Additionally, the China Warehousing Index for April was 51%, remaining in expansionary territory for the second consecutive month. Regarding market expectations, the business activity expectation index for April was 55.1%, staying at a relatively high level, indicating continued optimism among enterprises. Overall, the warehousing sector operated steadily in April, with market vitality continuing to be released, marking a positive start to the second quarter.

In the first quarter, China's shipbuilding industry continued to lead the world across three major indicators: shipbuilding completions, new orders received, and orders on hand.

Latest data shows that from January to March, China's shipbuilding completions reached 15.68 million deadweight tons (dwt), a year-on-year increase of 46.0%. Export vessels accounted for 96.1% of the total. New orders received amounted to 59.53 million dwt, surging 195.2% year-on-year. As of the end of March, orders on hand stood at 322.30 million dwt, up 43.6% year-on-year.

From January to March, China's share of global shipbuilding completions, new orders received, and orders on hand reached 57.3%, 84.9%, and 69.8% respectively. Among 18 major ship types globally, China ranked first in new orders received for 15 types. In the large vessel segment, China's international market share for orders of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), large car carriers, bulk carriers, and large container ships exceeding 10,000 TEU all exceeded 90%.