STORY: China's foreign trade in goods up 2.1 pct in H1
DATELINE: July 13, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:35
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the press conference
2.  SOUNDBITE (Chinese): LYU DALIANG, Director of statistics and analysis department of General Administration of Customs

STORYLINE:

China's customs data showed Thursday that the country's total goods imports and exports expanded 2.1 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first half of 2023.

According to the General Administration of Customs, China saw goods imports and exports exceeding 20 trillion yuan (about 2.8 trillion U.S. dollars) for the first time in the January-June period.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): LYU DALIANG, Director of statistics and analysis department of General Administration of Customs
"According to the General Administration of Customs, in the first half of this year, China's foreign trade in goods totaled 20.1 trillion yuan, up 2.1 percent year on year.
Exports grew 3.7 percent year on year to 11.46 trillion yuan while imports edged down 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 8.64 trillion yuan.
The volume and quality of China's foreign trade improved steadily. In the first half of this year, China's foreign trade volume exceeded 20 trillion yuan, registering a record high. The goods imports and exports in the first and second quarters reached 9.76 trillion yuan and 10.34 trillion yuan respectively, with both registering year-on-year growth.
The imports and exports recorded in the second quarter was 6 percent higher than that of the first quarter. Both May and June registered 1.2 percent month-on-month increases.
The scale of private enterprises' imports and exports grew notably in the January-June period, increasing 8.9 percent year on year to 10.59 trillion yuan. The volume represented 52.7 percent of the country's total."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)