China's goods imports and exports up 1.3 pct y-o-y in Q1

China's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms expanded 1.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, reaching a record high of 10.3 trillion yuan (1.41 trillion U.S. dollars), official data showed on Monday.

"According to customs data, China's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms reached 10.3 trillion yuan (1.41 trillion U.S. dollars), a 1.3 percent increase year on year. Exports during the period rose 6.9 percent to 6.13 trillion yuan, while imports fell 6 percent to 4.17 trillion yuan, " said Wang Lingjun, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), at a press conference on Monday.

Wang noted that there are four characteristics regarding China's foreign trade performance in the first quarter.

First, trade growth improved steadily throughout the quarter.

"In the first quarter, China's total import and export volume reached a record high for the same period, surpassing 10 trillion yuan for eight consecutive quarters. In January, imports and exports dropped by 2.2 percent. The decline eased in February, with trade remaining largely flat. In March, trade rebounded sharply, recording a 6 percent increase year on year," he said.

Second, private enterprises played an increasingly significant role in China's foreign trade. In the first quarter, private companies registered 5.85 trillion yuan in total trade, a 5.8 percent increase from the previous year. Their share of total trade rose to 56.8 percent, up 2.4 percentage points year on year. Meanwhile, foreign-invested enterprises contributed 2.99 trillion yuan, registering a 0.4 percent increase, accounting for 29 percent of the total.

Third, trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative outperformed the average. China's trade with these countries reached 5.26 trillion yuan in the first quarter, up 2.2 percent year on year and 0.9 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate, accounting for 51.1 percent of the total import and export value. Trade with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stood out in particular, growing 7.1 percent to 1.71 trillion yuan.

Fourth, electromechanical products remained a strong driver of trade growth in the first quarter. Imports and exports in this category totaled 5.29 trillion yuan, up 7.7 percent year on year. Key export items included home appliances, laptop computers, and electronic components. On the import side, rapid growth was seen in parts for automatic data processing equipment, as well as ships and marine engineering equipment.

Overall, in the face of growing external challenges, Chinese authorities, businesses, and trade operators have adopted proactive measures to stabilize foreign trade, ensuring a solid and confident start in 2025, said Wang.

China's goods imports and exports up 1.3 pct y-o-y in Q1

China recorded a relatively fast credit growth in the first four months of this year, providing solid support for the country's real economy, economists said.

China issued 10.06 trillion yuan (about 1.39 trillion U.S. dollars) in new yuan-denominated loans in the first four months of 2025, data from the People's Bank of China, the central bank, showed on Wednesday.

"The reasonable growth of new loans fully meets the effective financing needs of the real economy from equipment renewal in manufacturing to capital turnover in the service industry, and stimulates the vitality and creativity of market entities," said Lu Zhe, chief economist of Soochow Securities Co., Ltd.

Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of the Merchants Union Consumer Finance Co., Ltd, has also noted that at the end of April, the growth rate of yuan-denominated loans was still significantly higher than the nominal economic growth rate.

"In the fourth quarter of last year, the issuance of special refinancing bonds for debt repayment exceeded 2 trillion yuan. From January to April of this year, nearly 1.6 trillion yuan worth of such bonds were issued. Market research estimates that the corresponding loans to be replaced amount to about 2.1 trillion yuan. After adjustment, the growth rate of yuan-dominated loans remained above 8 percent at the end of April. It is expected that the growth of the financial aggregate will remain stable in the next stage," Dong said.

Meanwhile, financing costs remained at historically low levels. Data showed that the weighted average interest rate on new corporate loans issued in April was around 3.2 percent, about 4 basis points lower than that in the previous month, and the weighted average interest rate on new personal housing loans stood at about 3.1 percent.

"The steady growth of financial data in April indicates that the 'moderately loose' monetary policy has continued to show its effectiveness. The growth in both quantity and quality of loans, the reasonable increase in money supply, plus abundant liquidity, demonstrate the strong support of the financial system for the real economy," said Lu.

China's relatively fast credit growth provides solid support for real economy