In the first four months, Chinas imports and exports with the five Central Asian countries increased by 37.3% year-on-year;

The General Administration of Customs released statistics on the 17th, in the first four months of this year, China's imports and exports with the five Central Asian countries were 173.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.3%. Among them, the monthly import and export scale in April exceeded 50 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 50.27 billion yuan, reaching a new level. China and the five Central Asian countries have continued to deepen pragmatic economic and trade cooperation, and the quantity and quality of trade development have increased.

From the perspective of business entities, in the first four months, China's private enterprises imported and exported 110.88 billion yuan to the five Central Asian countries, an increase of 64.6%, accounting for 64.1% of the total import and export value of China and the five Central Asian countries, an increase of 10.6 percentage points year-on-year, and the vitality of trade with the five Central Asian countries was further enhanced.

In terms of imports, in the first four months, China imported 32.45 billion yuan of coal, crude oil, natural gas and other energy products from the five Central Asian countries, accounting for 55% of the total value of China's imports from the five Central Asian countries in the same period; Imported metal ores amounted to 10.59 billion yuan, an increase of 13.7%. At the same time, Central Asian countries are rich in high-quality agricultural resources, which provides more opportunities for bilateral agricultural cooperation to deepen and solidify, and in the first four months, China imported 2.58 billion yuan of agricultural products from the five Central Asian countries, an increase of 42.9%.

In terms of exports, China's exports of mechanical and electrical and labor-intensive products to the five Central Asian countries "go hand in hand". In the first four months, the export of mechanical and electrical products was 51.58 billion yuan, an increase of 68.3%, accounting for 45.2% of the total export value of China and the five Central Asian countries in the same period; The export of labor-intensive products such as textiles and garments, shoes and boots reached 47.4 billion yuan, an increase of 75.2%, accounting for 41.6%.

Customs strives to play a constructive role in serving the high-quality development of economic and trade between China and Central Asia. Under the active initiative and promotion of China, the first meeting of customs directors of the "China-Central Asian Five" was held by video on April 21 this year, marking the formal establishment of the "China-Central Asian Five" customs directors' meeting mechanism, and the "China-Central Asian Five" customs cooperation will achieve high-level institutionalized development. At the same time, Customs has promoted the establishment of a cooperation mechanism between animal and plant quarantine authorities, and will be committed to maintaining national biosecurity, strengthening regional cross-border joint prevention and control of animal and plant diseases and technical exchanges, and promoting more high-quality and safe agricultural and food products from Central Asian countries to enter the Chinese market.

At present, on the one hand, the Customs is focusing on promoting smooth trade between China and the five Central Asian countries. Actively promote the normalization of passenger and cargo transportation at highway ports in China and neighboring countries in Central Asia, and the port capacity has been greatly released, and the transit volume of some ports has exceeded the pre-epidemic level; We will pragmatically implement the "Customs and Railway Connect" project, actively promote the mutual recognition and cooperation between the "single window" of international trade and the "Authorized Business Operator" (AEO), and strive to improve the level of regional trade facilitation. In addition, it is promoting the opening and upgrading of new ports and actively promoting regional connectivity. On the other hand, efforts should be made to expand opening up to the outside world. In order to promote the development of trade in agricultural and food products, the Customs has continued to expand the "green channel" for rapid customs clearance of agricultural and sideline products, and has opened eight "green channels" for rapid customs clearance of agricultural and sideline products for Central Asian countries, achieving full coverage of highway ports. At present, more than 100 kinds of agricultural and food products from Central Asian countries can be exported to China, and more than 4,000 enterprises have been approved for registration, injecting vitality into the trade of agricultural and food products.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries for more than 30 years, China has continued to deepen pragmatic economic and trade cooperation, built economic and trade relations with rich connotations, vitality and mutual benefit, and achieved solid and heavy cooperation results." Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Hengting said at a regular press conference held a few days ago.

Institutional arrangements are becoming more and more perfect. In 2022, the heads of state of China and the five Central Asian countries jointly announced the building of a China-Central Asia community with a shared future. Within the framework of the China-Central Asia Cooperation Mechanism, the economic and trade ministers of the six countries held the "China-Central Asian Five" Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting on April 18 this year to exchange views on trade and investment, digital economy, green development, connectivity, multilateral and local cooperation. Up to now, China and Central Asian countries have signed cooperation documents on jointly building the "Belt and Road", formulated medium- and long-term economic and trade cooperation plans, signed investment protection agreements, and the economic and trade cooperation mechanism has become increasingly complete.

Investment cooperation benefits all parties. As of the end of March this year, China's direct investment in the five Central Asian countries exceeded US$15 billion, and the cumulative turnover of project contracting was US$63.9 billion. Through continuous cooperation in infrastructure, oil and gas mining, processing and manufacturing, medical and health, education science and technology, digital economy and other fields, a number of major projects have been successfully implemented, helping Central Asian countries to upgrade their industries, connect and improve people's livelihood.