Hunan's foreign trade achieves a good start in 2023

Hunan saw a good start in foreign trade this year. Its import and export trade value totaled 118.82 billion CNY in the first two months, ranking 13th nationwide. It was announced by Changsha Customs on March 14, 2023.

Hunan has been actively engaged in economic and trade cooperation with 212 countries and regions, and has seen rapid growth in both traditional and emerging markets. The ASEAN countries, United States, and European Union were its top three largest trading partners in January and February this year. Their foreign trade values were 26.46 billion CNY, 14.97 billion CNY, and 11.18 billion CNY, respectively, an increase of 79.4%, 68.6%, and 39% year on year. Hunan's foreign trade values with countries along the "Belt and Road" route, other RCEP membership countries, and Africa increased by 81%, 51.8%, and 94.7%, respectively.

In the first two months, Hunan's imported products were mainly metal ores and ore sands, accounting for 24.1% of the provincial total imports. Mechanical and electrical products were Hunan's major exports, taking up 44.3% of the total exports. The export of high-tech products increased by 22.2%.

Private enterprises played a leading role and new foreign trade formats showed vitality. Between January and February, the foreign trade value of private companies surged by 68.4% to 98.38 billion CNY, accounting for more than 80% of the total. Five comprehensive bonded zones in Hunan achieved the total foreign trade value of 33.63 billion CNY, up 87.5%. The export value via market procurement trade was 1.2 billion CNY, an increase of 48.1%.

Changsha Customs suggested that foreign trade enterprises provincewide should accelerate their transformation towards technology-intensive, brand-creation, and trade in services, to strengthen the brand image and international market competitiveness of Hunan products.

They may leverage such platforms as the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Canton Fair to participate in overseas exhibitions to expand the market and stabilize their orders. Hunan enterprises could further consolidate the export of traditional advanced products, including construction machinery, rail transit, and ceramics, and create new export highlights such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products, and aviation engines, forming a new momentum for foreign trade development.