Source: NCDA&CS, 8/17/22


World Economic Forum President, Borge Brende, said on 21st July, “We are expecting that the measures taken by China and the Chinese authorities will lead to a revival of growth and are optimistic about the medium- and long-term economic development in China.” He made the remarks as data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed that China’s GDP expanded 2.5% in the first half of 2022.

China’s imports and exports increased by 9.4% during the first half of 2022 to USD$2.94 trillion, according to the latest customs data released on July 13th. The exports came in at USD$1.66 trillion, surging 13.2% on a yearly basis, while the imports were valued at USD$1.29 trillion, growing 4.8% from a year ago. In June, China’s foreign trade rose by 14.3% year on year.

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, in the first half of 2022, China’s total import and export of agricultural products amounted to USD$161.68 billion, an increase of 10.4% from last year. Among them, exports increased by 22.8% to USD$47.14 billion, while imports came in at USD$114.54 billion, with a 6% rise.

Meat imports were 3.456 million metric tons, down 31.9% compared to 2021, and the import value was USD$13.97 billion, with a 15.5% decrease. Meanwhile, grain imports reached 79.782 million metric tons, down 5.4% from 2021, but the import value increased to USD$42.43 billion, by 17.8%.

A Chinese social media post regarding imported produce predicted that China’s seafood imports in the post-epidemic era would largely recover to pre-epidemic levels in 2022 and continue to grow steadily in the coming years. According to Chinese customs data, China’s seafood imports reached a record peak of USD$15.4 billion in 2019. It’s expected that China’s seafood imports will recover to USD$15 billion in 2022 and will continue to make new records in the following years, which may lead China to become the world’s second-largest importer of seafood.