(The Chinese version shall prevail.)
Customs statistics show that the total value of bilateral trade between China and Central and Eastern European countries (hereinafter referred to as CEE) was RMB 229.11 billion in Q1 2023, an increase of 9.6% over the same period last year (the same below). Among them, those exported to CEE reached RMB 178.72 billion, an increase of 10.3%; those imported from CEE reached RMB 50.39 billion, an increase of 7.3%.
The main features of bilateral trade between China and CEE in Q1 2023 are as follows:
(I) Mechanical & electrical products and labor-intensive products were the main exported products.
In the first quarter of 2023, China exported RMB 124.96 billion of mechanical and electrical products to CEE, an increase of 9.9%, accounting for 69.9% of the gross export value (the same below) from China to CEE in the same period.
Among them, the value of electrical equipment & material reached RMB 18.44 billion, an increase of 46.4%; the value of automatic data processing equipment and its parts and components reached RMB 11.55 billion, a decrease of 18.1%. Over the same period, the export of labor-intensive products reached RMB 26.64 billion, with an increase of 3.8%, accounting for 14.9% of the gross export value from China to CEEC. Among them, the value of garments and accessories reached RMB 6.76 billion, a decrease of 2.5%; the value of textile yarn, fabrics and their products reached RMB 5.29 billion, a decrease of 10%. In addition, the export of steel was RMB 2.55 billion, up 148.3%, accounting for 1.4%; the export of agricultural products was RMB 2.09 billion, up 38.1%, accounting for 1.2%; the export of food was RMB 960 million, up 20.2%.
(II) Mechanical & electrical products, metallic mineral ores, copper materials were the main imported products.
In the first quarter of 2023, China imported RMB 35.14 billion of mechanical and electrical products from CEE, an increase of 5.9%, accounting for 69.7% of the gross import value (the same below) from CEE to China over the same period. Among them, the value of passenger cars reached RMB 9.93 billion, with an increase of 21.9%; the value of auto parts reached RMB 6.46 billion, with a decrease of 7.8%. In the same period, the value of imported metal ore and ore sand reached RMB 3.63 billion, an increase of 74.2%, accounting for 7.2%; the value of imported unwrought copper and copper material reached RMB 2.01 billion, a decrease of 19.3%, accounting for 4%. In addition, the import of agricultural products amounted to RMB 1.43 billion, an increase of 39.1%, accounting for 2.8%; imported food totaled RMB 770 million, an increase of 16.3%.
(III) Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary were the top three trading partners.
In the first quarter of 2023, China's imports from and exports to Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were RMB 71.03 billion, RMB 36.49 billion and RMB 25.83 billion respectively, with an increase of 6.5%, 4.2%, and 8.8% respectively, accounting for 31%, 15.9% and 11.3% of China's gross import-export value from and to CEEC over the same period.