China +34% Trade Aug 2021

China's international trade increased by 34.2% in the period January – August 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. According to the latest release of the General Administration of Customs, China exported USD 2,095 billion (+33.7% YoY) of goods in the first eight months of the year and imported USD 1,733 billion (+34.8% YoY) in the same period. International trade totaled USD 3,828 billion, up by 34.2% compared to USD 2,851 traded in the same period 2020, with a surplus of USD 362 billion.

In August 2021, the trade with foreign economies amounted to USD 530 billion, up by 4.2% compared to July 2021 and 28.2% compared to August 2020.

The 14 signatories' countries of RCEP are the main partners of China: in aggregate, 31.2% of the international flow of goods involved signatories of RCEP. The second partner is the European Union (13.8% of China's total trade) and the United States (12.3% of China's total trade). It is also interesting to note that the weight of European Union and the United States is higher for exports: 15.4% and 16.9% of China's export is directed to European Union's members and the United States, while RCEP's members account for 26.2% of the Chinese exports.

The members of the European Union are strategic partners of China: in aggregate, the Chinese trade with European Union increased by 32.4%; among others, total trade with Italy increased by 40.9%, mainly pushed by +58.5% in import from Italy.

In 2020, despite the pandemic, China confirmed to be the first economy by international trade, reaching a record-high amount of USD 4,646 billion (+1.5% compared to 2019), USD 2,590 billion exports (+3.6% compared to 2019), and USD 2,055 billion imports (-1.1% compared to 2019).