China

Imports: CIF, by origin

Exports: FOB, by last known destination

Trade System: General

Overview:
After a drop of 16.0 percent in 2009, the value of exports of China bounced back in 2010 by 31.3 percent and continued to rise by 20.3 percent
to reach its peak of 1,898.4 bln US$ in 2011 (see table 1 and graph 1). Imports also showed an increase of 24.9 percent in 2011 and amounted
to 1,743.4 bln US$ (see table 2 and graph 1). This resulted in a trade surplus of 155.0 bln US$ in 2011, lower than the 2010 surplus of 181.8
bln US$ (see graph 1). Two MDG regions accounted for a large part of this surplus: Developed North America (+205.3 bln US$) and Developed
Europe (+119.0 bln US$) (see graph 2). Trade recorded significant deficits with Developed Asia-Pacific (-96.3 bln US$), Eastern Asia (-37.8 bln
US$) and Sub-Saharan Africa (-30.7 bln US$). In 2011, China's trade was diversified across partners: 24 (respectively 22) major partners
accounted for 80 percent of exports (respectively imports) (see graph 3).

Graph 1: Total imports, exports and trade balance

(Bln US$ by year)
Exports

2000

Imports

Table 1: Exports by SITC sections

Trade Balance

(Value in million US$, growth and shares in percentage)

SITC
Total
0+1
2+4
3
5
6
7
8
9

1500
1000
500
0
500

2011

1 898 388.4
52 770.5
15 546.3
32 274.1
114 723.0
319 564.3
902 599.3
458 568.3
2 342.5

Avg. Growth rates (%)

2007-2011 2010-2011

11.7
13.2
13.3
11.5
17.4
9.8
11.8
11.5
1.8

2011
share

20.3
22.6
29.6
21.0
31.1
28.3
15.6
21.7
59.6

100.0
2.8
0.8
1.7
6.0
16.8
47.5
24.2
0.1

1000
1500

11

10

Table 2: Imports by SITC sections

(Value in million US$, growth and shares in percentage)

20

09

20

08

20

07

20

06

20

05

20

04

20

03

20

02

20

01

20

00

20

99

20

98

19

19

19

97

2000

Exports Profile:
In 2011, China's exports were mainly composed of 47.5 percent of machinery and
transport equipment (SITC section 7), 24.2 percent of miscellaneous manufactured
articles (SITC section 8) and 16.8 percent of manufactured goods classified chiefly
by material (SITC section 6) (see table 1). USA, China, Hong Kong SAR and Japan
were the three largest markets for exports in 2011 (see table 4). From 2009 to 2011,
top exported commodities were automatic data processing machines and units
thereof (HS code 8471), electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy (HS
code 8517) and cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges (HS
code 8901) (see table 3).

SITC
Total
0+1
2+4
3
5
6
7
8
9

2011

1 743 394.9
32 455.6
296 543.8
275 727.8
180 542.3
150 314.9
630 916.7
127 380.9
49 513.0

Avg. Growth rates (%)

2007-2011 2010-2011

16.2
25.9
24.0
27.3
13.9
9.9
11.2
9.9
111.7

2011
share

24.9
35.2
34.2
45.9
20.8
14.5
14.8
12.5
168.6

100.0
1.9
17.0
15.8
10.4
8.6
36.2
7.3
2.8

Table 3: Top 10 export commodities 2009 to 2011

(Value in billion US$)
HS
code

4-digit heading of Harmonized System 2007

All Commodities............................................................................................................
8471 Automatic data processing machines and units thereof..............................................
8517 Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy............................................
8901 Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges...................................
8528 Reception apparatus for television...............................................................................
8473 Parts and accessories for use with machines of heading 84.69 to 84.72....................
8542 Electronic integrated circuits.........................................................................................
8541 Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices................................................
9013 Liquid crystal devices....................................................................................................
8443 Printing machinery used for printing by means of the printing type, blocks................
8504 Electrical transformers, static converters.....................................................................

2009

Value (billion US$)

2010
2011

1 201.6
101.6
86.5
23.9
26.7
26.2
23.6
15.5
20.3
17.1
14.7

Source: UN Comtrade

1 577.8
139.1
106.0
35.2
31.9
31.3
29.6
32.0
27.9
23.6
20.2

Unit value
2009 2010 2011
Unit

1 898.4
152.0 87.7 93.3 91.1 US$/unit
133.4
37.1 12.2 16.7 15.7 mln US$/unit
30.3 100.2 116.6 111.2 US$/unit
30.6 26.9 31.1 30.7 US$/kg
32.9
35.4
31.7
25.1
22.3

SITC
code
752
764
793
761
759
776
776
871
726
771

China
Graph 2: Trade Balance by MDG Regions in 2011

Graph 3: Partner concentration of trade in 2011

(Bln US$)

(Cumulative share by ranked partners)

Developed AsiaPacific

Imports
(Herfindahl Index = 0.049)

Developed Europe

Exports
(Herfindahl Index = 0.066)

Top
partner

Developed N. America

Top
partner

Southeastern Europe
5 th

5 th

10 th

10 th

15 th

15 th

20 th

20 th

25 th

25 th

CIS
Northern Africa
SubSaharan Africa
Latin Am, Caribbean
Eastern Asia
Southern Asia
Southeastern Asia
Western Asia

Table 4: Exports by principal countries and SITC sections in 2011

(Value in million US$, percentages of country total)
Country
Total
0+1 2+4
World............................... 1 898 388.4 2.8 0.8
USA.................................. 325 011.0 1.9 0.5
China, Hong Kong SAR.... 267 983.7 2.0 0.2
Japan............................... 148 268.7 6.7 1.4
Rep. of Korea...................
82 920.3 4.3 1.7
Germany..........................
76 400.0 1.9 1.0
Netherlands.....................
59 499.7 1.5 1.3
India.................................
50 536.4 0.5 1.3
United Kingdom...............
44 122.1 1.9 0.6
Russian Federation..........
38 903.0 4.6 0.7
Singapore........................
35 570.1 1.5 0.3

Shares by SITC sections (%)

5
6
7
8

1.7 6.0 16.8 47.5 24.2

0.3 4.0 12.5 49.8 30.9
2.4 2.0 7.4 65.6 20.2
2.1 7.4 13.8 39.0 28.9
2.9 8.9 24.7 43.2 14.3
0.7 4.9 11.5 48.4 31.6
0.5 5.2 9.5 64.9 17.1
1.3 20.8 20.3 48.1 7.6
0.5 4.0 15.5 39.6 37.9
0.9 5.3 19.3 38.1 31.1
4.7 4.4 13.2 64.0 11.1

Total

0.1
0.1
0.2
0.7
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.8

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

0%
10

80

60

40

%
20

0%

%
20

40

60

80

0%
10

0
25

0
20

0
15

0
10

50

0
5

00

Oceania

Imports Profile:
Machinery and transport equipment (SITC
section 7) accounted for more than a third of
China's imports (36.2 percent) (see table 2).
Other major commodity groups included
inedible crude materials (except fuels),
animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes
(SITC sections 2+4) and mineral fuels,
lubricants and related materials (SITC
section 3), respectively with 17.0 and 15.8
percent of imports. From 2009 to 2011, top
imported products were electronic
integrated circuits (HS code 8542), petroleum
oils and oils obtained from bituminous
minerals, crude (HS code 2709) and iron ores
and concentrates, including roasted iron
pyrites (HS code 2601) (see table 5).

Table 5: Top 10 import commodities 2009 to 2011

(Value in billion US$)
HS
code

4-digit heading of Harmonized System 2007

All Commodities............................................................................................................
8542 Electronic integrated circuits.........................................................................................
2709 Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude.............................
2601 Iron ores and concentrates, including roasted iron pyrites...........................................
9013 Liquid crystal devices....................................................................................................
8703 Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport...............
8471 Automatic data processing machines and units thereof..............................................
1201 Soya beans, whether or not broken..............................................................................
8517 Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy............................................
2710 Petroleum oils, other than crude...................................................................................
9999 Commodities not specified according to kind...............................................................

2009

Value (billion US$)

2010
2011

1 005.6
120.8
89.3
50.1
38.3
14.4
21.8
18.8
19.1
17.0
3.3

Source: UN Comtrade

1 396.0
158.0
135.3
79.7
51.5
28.9
26.9
25.1
22.5
22.4
18.4

Unit value
2009 2010 2011
Unit

1 743.4
171.1
196.8 0.4 0.6 0.8 US$/kg
112.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 US$/kg
53.1
41.0 34.6 36.4 40.3 thsd US$/unit
29.4 37.6 37.6 41.2 US$/unit
29.7 0.4 0.5 0.6 US$/kg
30.9
32.8 0.5 0.6 0.8 US$/kg
49.5

SITC
code
776
333
281
871
781
752
222
764
334
931