On the morning of April 19, the press conference on the first quarter of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’s foreign trade opening was held in the press conference hall of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People’s Government. In the first quarter of this year, Xinjiang’s import and export achieved 68.07 billion yuan, an increase of 80.3%, which was 75.5 percentage points higher than that of the whole country. The growth rate ranked first in the country. Solid foundation.
The reporter learned that the “good start” of Xinjiang’s foreign trade in the first quarter is mainly reflected in the following points. First, the growth momentum in many prefectures and cities is strong, and the layout is more coordinated. In the first quarter, the total import and export value of 10 of the 14 prefectures and cities in our district achieved growth, and the foreign trade import and export of 7 prefectures and cities showed a doubling trend. Urumqi, Kashgar, Ili Prefecture, Bozhou and Tacheng are the top five in foreign trade scale, and Ili Prefecture, Tacheng, Hami, Karamay and Bozhou are the top five in terms of growth rate, with growth rates of 198.4%, 183.6%, 179.4%, and 163.3% respectively %, 150.6%. The foreign trade in southern Xinjiang continued to develop. Among them, Kezhou, Kashgar, Hotan, and Bazhou saw significant growth in foreign trade, and their import and export values increased by 134.5%, 102.3%, 77.4%, and 41.1% respectively. The gap in the scale of foreign trade between southern and northern Xinjiang has gradually narrowed, showing a trend of coordinated development.
The second is closer ties with Central Asian countries and more diversified partners. In the first quarter, Xinjiang’s import and export to the five Central Asian countries was 53.18 billion yuan, an increase of 84.5%, accounting for 78.1% of Xinjiang’s total foreign trade import and export value in the same period (the same below), an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the same period last year. Among them, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are the top three trading partners of Xinjiang, and their imports and exports increased by 124.4%, 48.7%, and 187.9% respectively. During the same period, Xinjiang’s imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” were 61.88 billion yuan, an increase of 77.4%, accounting for 90.9%; imports and exports to other RCEP member states were 2.83 billion yuan, an increase of 16.6%; imports and exports to the EU were 1.85 billion yuan, an increase of 54.4% .
Third, the import and export of private enterprises accounted for more than 90%, showing steady progress. In the first quarter, there were 15,486 registered foreign trade enterprises in Xinjiang, an increase of 6.5% year-on-year; in the first quarter, there were 1,535 foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in Xinjiang, an increase of 12%. The import and export of private enterprises in Xinjiang was 65.01 billion yuan, an increase of 94.2%, accounting for 95.5%, an increase of 6.8 percentage points over the same period of the previous year. The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises in Xinjiang was 490 million yuan, an increase of 79.6%.
Fourth, traditional advantages and new advantages have been synergistically exerted, and the structure of export commodities has been continuously optimized. In the first quarter, the export of labor-intensive products and electromechanical products in Xinjiang continued to grow strongly, with exports of 30.17 billion yuan and 18.95 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 97% and 107.6% respectively, accounting for 84% of Xinjiang’s total foreign trade export value. During the same period, the export performance of new advantageous products was outstanding. The total export of “three new” products such as electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells totaled 490 million yuan, an increase of 492.5%, 136.2%, and 97.7 times, respectively.
Fifth, from the perspective of major imported commodities, the pulling effect of the quantity factor is prominent, and the momentum remains good. In the first quarter, Xinjiang’s imported commodities were concentrated in the field of resource commodities. The imports of metal ore and ore, unwrought copper and copper materials, and coal increased by 134.1%, 65.3%, and 79.6% respectively, which were mainly driven by quantitative factors. Respectively increased by 102.5%, 69.4%, 78.8%. During the same period, imported agricultural products increased by 20.5%, of which the volume and value of barley increased by 210.7% and 251.4% respectively; the volume and value of wheat increased by 232% and 333.9% respectively.
(Mao Weihua | Munila Kajal, reporter from China Daily Xinjiang Reporter Station)
[Responsible editor: Cai Donghai]