Since its founding in 1949, the
People's Republic of China has taken off to become a global superpower
in the past seven decades. The country has written a chapter in economic
books with its distinctive growth model.
Below are graphics examining the
foreign trade transformation of the world's second largest economy.
China journeyed from residing within the socialist camp to being
considered "the factory of the world," before carrying on opening up its
market by holding import expos and international services trade fairs.
The first 30 years of economic
development laid the foundation for China's reform and opening-up in
1978.
China's foreign trade steadily
expanded in the two decades since the reform. Special Economic Zones
(SEZs) were established where incentives such as tax reduction and
simplified investment procedures were introduced to attract foreign
investment. Shenzhen, the first designated SEZ, saw its economy grow
from under 200 million yuan in 1978 to 2.6 trillion yuan (374 billion
U.S. dollars) by 2019.
China entered the World Trade
Organization in 2001. In the decade since then, imports swelled to 750
billion U.S. dollars on average annually. This created more than 14
million jobs in those countries that were China's trading partners.
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
has played a notable role in promoting China's foreign trade. The export
of foreign-funded companies' share in China's total exports increased
from 0.044 percent in 1980 to 41.7 percent in 2018.
China has made strenuous efforts
to restructure the export framework since the 2008 financial crisis as
it increased the value-added in the final product and progressively
embraced green growth.
The country also launched the
Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 aiming to promote global trade and
economic growth across Asia, Africa and Europe. The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a key area covered in the initiative.
The block became China's biggest trading partner in the first half of
this year, accounting for 14.7 percent of China's total foreign trade
volume.
China's trade in services has
also developed rapidly over the past two decades. In contrast to
merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of
intangible products such as transportation, tourism, and accounting.
In 2019, China had a service
trade deficit of 261.1 billion U.S. dollars, an 11 percent drop from the
previous year. Travel was still the biggest pillar in the service trade
deficit, taking an 83 percent share as 155 million Chinese traveled
abroad last year.
The seventh China International
Fair for Trade in Services will be held from September 4-9, as the
country embarks on further opening its market. Over 2,000 domestic and
foreign enterprises and institutions have confirmed their attendance.
Source: CGTN |