Data | China’s exports to the “Belt and Road” countries account for an all-time high share by value

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China’s total trade volume of mechanical and electrical products decreased by 5.8% to 1,162.81 billion USD in the first five months of 2023. Among them, the export value was 810.65 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%, and the import value was 353.16 billion USD, a decrease of 19.2%. The analysis of the data by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products shows that the export value of household appliances was 27.78 billion USD, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%, continuing the downward trend since 2022. The export value of household appliances to the “Belt and Road” markets (64 countries) reached 9.68 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 12.0%. During the same period, China’s exports of household appliances to the Middle East and ASEAN countries continued to grow. The export value to the Middle East was 2.35 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 17.9%, and the export value to ASEAN countries was 3.20 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%. Over the past decade since the launch of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, the proportion of China’s household appliance exports to the “Belt and Road” markets has been on a rise from 25% in 2013 to 31% in 2022, and in the first quarter of 2023, it has reached nearly 40% (38.3%), reaching a historical high.