context: The value of China's imports of goods increased from US$1818 bn in 2012 to US$2716 bn in 2022. Increasing imports aims to secure key economic goals: the transition to higher-end manufacturing and consumption-led domestic growth.
Increasing the volume and quality of China's imports is crucial for accessing global resources, industrial and consumption upgrades, and internationalising the RMB, says Wang Xiaohong 王晓红 China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) Information Department deputy director, noting imports effectively
- improve the supply-side quality of manufacturing industries
- add value to domestic products and improve the supply-side structure
- are an important channel for domestic manufacturing acquiring advanced technology
- promote independent innovation through reverse engineering and other methods
- maintain the security and stability of industrial supply chains
- intermediate products play an indispensable role in improving industrial chains and consolidating China's status as a manufacturing powerhouse
- are also the driver of the continuous improvement of China's contribution and influence on the world supply chain system as a key hub of the global division of labour
- expanding imports helps the domestic market connect with the international market and enhances integration with the global supply chain system
- meet the need to upgrade the consumption structure
- imports of consumer products such as health care and maternal and child products, fresh food, cosmetics and toiletries effectively meet certain demands from residents and promote the improvement and expansion of China's consumer market
- guarantee national energy resources and food security
- domestic resources alone cannot meet production requirements; establishing a diversified and stable energy and mineral resource import guarantee and reserve system is necessary to maintain the security of the industrial chain and supply chain
- imports of agricultural products not only make up for the shortage of domestic supply but also save land and water resources (e.g. in 2022, China imported for instance 91 million tons of soybeans, which is equivalent to saving nearly 700 million mu, the equivalent of roughly 46 million hectares, of cultivated land)
The structure of China's imports continues to be optimised, notes Wang, with growth in
- high value-added goods
- electromechanical products such as high-end equipment and key components rank first among imported goods
- intermediate goods
- the share of intermediate products in total imports increased from 58 percent in 2012 to 62.4 percent in 2021
- China is the world's largest importer of intermediate goods; the value was US$1676 billion in 2021, 65 percent and 176 percent higher than that of the United States and Germany, which ranked second and third, respectively
- strategic resources, such as energy and mineral resources and important agricultural products
- the import value of agricultural products increased from US$112 bn in 2012 to US$236 bn in 2022
- they account for 24.3 percent of total imports
- consumer goods
- the value was C¥1.73 tn in 2021, more than double that of 2012
- they account for 10 percent of total imports.