This year, Changsha's foreign trade has shown resilience with steady growth and improved quality. Data released by the Xingsha Customs Authority on July 28 showed that Changsha's import and export value reached 136.76 billion CNY in the first half of the year. Of the total, exports amounted to 92.13 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%, while imports stood at 44.63 billion CNY.

 
Changsha's foreign trade accounted for 52.1% of the province's total in the first half of the year, up from 47.9% in the same period last year. In June this year, the scale of foreign trade reached a new high for the past two years. In June, Changsha's import and export volume was 27.66 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%.

"The circle of friends" in foreign trade has become more diverse. In the first half of the year, Changsha had economic and trade relations with 221 countries and regions, with growth achieved in nearly 60% of these countries and regions.

Exports of specialty products have grown significantly. In the first half of the year, Changsha's green and low-carbon industries continued to improve. Exports of the "new three" products amounted to 7.74 billion CNY, an increase of 77.5%. The "new three" products refer to solar batteries, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles. Specifically, electric vehicle exports expanded 68.3% to 5.16 billion CNY while lithium-ion battery exports amounted to 2.33 billion CNY, surging 131.9%.

Construction machinery exports remained stable with slight growth. Changsha's exports of construction machinery products were 15.49 billion CNY, an increase of 0.9%. The products sold well in 159 countries and regions, with high-speed growth in exports to the UAE, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Through the "one-on-one" assistance mechanism, the customs authority guided companies in optimally applying free trade agreements such as RCEP. In the first half of the year, 1,984 export certificates of origin were issued for companies like Zoomlion, Sany, and Sunward, an increase of 48.6%. The initiative helped companies obtain tariff reductions of approximately 16.55 million USD.

To support the export of agricultural and food products, the customs authority opened a "green channel" and adopted an "online approval and self-printing" model to ensure uninterrupted daily customs clearance for chilled chicken supplies from Changsha to Hong Kong. In the first half of the year, Changsha's poultry meat exports to Hong Kong were 67 tonnes, an increase of seven times. Continuous efforts were made to optimize and upgrade smart supervision scenarios for fireworks exports, assisting Liuyang fireworks companies in expanding orders. Fireworks exports reached 2.28 billion CNY, up 25.1%.

Trade with Africa reached a record high for the same period. In the first half of the year, Changsha's imports from and exports to Africa grew 59.5% to 15.19 billion CNY, accounting for 11.1% of the city's total import and export value, an increase of 4.1 percentage points.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Kuang Zhenzhen

Chinese source: Hunan Daily