Henan’s foreign trade soars 26.4% in Jan-Feb, outpacing Central China

Henan Daily

Zhengzhou: Henan’s foreign trade witnessed a strong start in the first two months of this year. According to Zhengzhou Customs on March 12, Henan’s foreign trade value saw a year-on-year increase of 26.4 percent to 135.42 billion yuan during the January-February period. This growth rate, the highest in Central China, was 27.6 percentage points above the national average, highlighting a strong upward momentum. Specifically, exports totaled 90.64 billion yuan, up 38.9 percent, while imports reached 44.78 billion yuan, up 6.9 percent.

In terms of trade methods, the share of processing trade and bonded logistics increased 4.1 percentage points. During the first two months, Henan’s general trade value reached 55.41 billion yuan, an increase of 14.7%. Besides, the value of processing trade and bonded logistics totaled 79.34 billion yuan, up 35.9 percent year-on-year, accounting for 58.5 percent of the total – a rise of 4.1 percentage points.

Private enterprises saw rapid growth in foreign trade, underscoring the vitality of market players. From January to February, 8,205 enterprises in Henan saw actual foreign trade performance, an increase of 7.9 percent or 603 enterprises year-on-year, mainly driven by those in Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Xinxiang. Among them, 177 enterprises had aforeign tradevalue exceeding 50 million yuan, accounting for 82.5percent of the province’s total foreign trade. Private enterprises recorded a foreign trade value of 96.02 billion yuan, up 20.2 percent, while foreign-invested enterprises reached 31.67 billion yuan, marking a significant growth of 100.2 percent.

In terms of trade markets, ASEAN, the EU, the U.S., India, and South Korea were Henan’s top five trading partners, each with an import and export value exceeding 10 billion yuan. Trade with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member states saw rapid growth. ASEAN became Henan’s largest trading partner, with trade reaching 16.73 billion yuan in the first two months, an 8.6 percent increase. During the same period, its trade with the BRI countries totaled 65.84 billion yuan, growing 18.9 percent, while trade with RCEP member states surged 34.5 percent to 41.09 billion yuan.

Henan’s foreign trade structure has been continuously improving. From the perspective of export commodities, the export of electromechanical products, agricultural products, silver, and steel showed rapid growth. In the first two months, Henan’s exports of electromechanical products totaled 59.24 billion yuan, agricultural products 2.33 billion yuan, silver 2.2 billion yuan, and steel products 1.81 billion yuan, with year-on-year increases of 54.5 percent, 22.9 percent, 38 percent, and a remarkable 292.5 percent, respectively.

In terms of imported commodities, the main drivers of import growth were automatic data processing equipment and its components, unwrought copper, and agricultural products.In the first two months, Henan’s imports of electromechanical products, unwrought copper, and agricultural products reached 23.91 billion yuan, 1.61 billion yuan, and 2.5 billion yuan, respectively, with increases of 8%, 172.2%, and 50.5%.

Over 70 percent of the provincially-administered cities saw growth in foreign trade, including 13 cities such as Zhengzhou, Luoyang, and Xinxiang. Among them, Zhengzhou led with the fastest growth, seeing an increase of 24.92 billion yuan in foreign trade, which accounted for 88.2 percent of the province’s total year-on-year growth. (Chinese source: Henan Daily Reporter: Wang Ge Translator: Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Li Wenjing and Zhao Hanqing)