China's Total Import and Export Value Reached 43.85 Trillion Yuan in 2024

On January 13, the State Council Information Office of China held a press conference under the series "Achievements of China's High-Quality Economic Development," providing an update on the import and export situation for the entire year of 2024 and answering questions from the press. During the event, Wang Lingjun, Deputy Commissioner of the General Administration of Customs, stated that in 2024, China’s foreign trade achieved impressive results, with increases in total volume, growth, and quality, a "triple rise" in the key metrics.

Wang explained that in terms of total volume, China surpassed the 42 trillion and 43 trillion yuan marks consecutively. Last year, the total import and export value reached 43.85 trillion yuan, growing by 5% year-on-year, setting a new historical high. China’s position as the world's largest goods trader has been further strengthened. China has become a major trading partner for over 150 countries and regions, expanding its foreign trade "circle of friends."

In terms of growth, China’s foreign trade growth reached 2.1 trillion yuan, equivalent to the total foreign trade of a medium-sized country. Currently, China’s growth rate is among the fastest in the world’s major economies. Regarding quality, the structure of import and export products continued to optimize and upgrade. High-tech products showed strong growth, the export of self-owned brands hit a record high, and new forms of trade, such as cross-border e-commerce, flourished.

Wang emphasized that these achievements were not easy to attain. In 2024, foreign trade successfully achieved the goal of quality improvement and stable volume. The fundamental guarantee for this was the central leadership of the Communist Party of China, which, in response to the situation, promptly introduced a series of incremental policies and adopted a "package of measures" to stabilize and promote foreign trade growth. These successes were also the result of concerted efforts by various localities and departments and the hard work of millions of foreign trade professionals.

Wang noted that customs is not only a witness and recorder of China's foreign trade development, but also a participant and promoter. In 2024, customs oversaw the import and export of 5.603 billion tons of goods and 39.917 million transportation vehicles. In the face of massive flows of people and goods, the General Administration of Customs always remembers its most basic and important responsibility—safeguarding the national border. Using smart customs systems, it has built a modern regulatory framework to intercept various epidemics, prohibited goods, and substandard products outside the country's borders, firmly maintaining safety and regulatory standards to protect national and public interests, providing high-level security to support high-quality development.

Wang further explained that the General Administration of Customs has always kept in mind the principle of high-quality development in the new era. It has implemented and carried out 16 measures to further optimize the business environment at ports to facilitate enterprise customs clearance. Customs has also introduced over a hundred policies to support the revitalization of the northeast, accelerate the development of the central region, and promote new development in the western regions, helping to form a new pattern of coordinated regional development. Specialized actions have been deployed in 20 cities to promote the facilitation of cross-border trade, creating a world-class, market-driven, rule-of-law, and internationalized business environment at ports. Customs has deepened innovations in regulatory systems and fully supported the innovative development of free trade zones such as Hainan Free Trade Port and other open platforms, promoting high-quality development through high-level opening-up.

Wang stressed that moving forward, the General Administration of Customs will follow the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference, seek progress while maintaining stability, promote stability through imports, take a proactive approach, and work hard. With "smart customs" and the "Smart Customs, Strong Nation" initiative as the primary focus, customs will push forward reforms with greater force, enhance regulatory measures for safety, take practical steps to stabilize foreign trade, and adopt higher standards to promote opening-up, all while safeguarding the national border and promoting development, ensuring that customs becomes a reliable protector of the Party’s trust and the people's satisfaction.