In March 2022, China's export value increased by 14.7% year-on-year, down 1.6 percentage points from January to February, and the import value decreased by - 0.1% year-on-year, down 15.6 percentage points from January to February. China's trade surplus in March was US $47.38 billion, an increase of 302.1% year-on-year compared with February. In the case of the impact of China's epidemic on production and transportation efficiency, China's exports still achieved high growth in March, indicating that China's exports still have strong resilience. It is worth noting that the import growth rate fell sharply and recorded a negative growth in March. Although this sharp decline is due to the decline of port logistics and transportation efficiency caused by the epidemic, it still reflects that China's current main growth pressure is domestic demand compared with foreign demand. Foreign demand may be able to maintain a certain resilience in the first quarter or even the first half of the year, but in the second half of the year, when exports slow down, the intensity of steady growth needs to be significantly improved in order to achieve the goal of economic growth this year.
From the perspective of export product structure, the impact of overseas production repair and the liberalization of epidemic prevention policies is more obvious. The repair of overseas production brought about the growth of intermediate exports. In March, the growth rate of China's general machinery and equipment reached 27.1%; The liberalization of the epidemic prevention policy led to a significant increase in the export of travel related supplies. In March, the export of luggage and similar containers increased by 32.6% year-on-year. At the same time, the export of epidemic prevention materials decreased, especially the export of medical instruments and devices increased by only 4.9% year-on-year in March. Among the factors supporting exports, prices still play an important role. The year-on-year growth rate of export amount of rare earth, automobile and other commodities is significantly higher than that of export quantity.
From the perspective of export regional structure, the growth rate of exports to the United States increased significantly in March and exports to Russia decreased significantly. In March, exports to the United States increased by 22.4% year-on-year, significantly higher than that from January to February. In addition to strong demand, the improvement of China US trade relations under the pressure of US inflation may also be affected. On the contrary, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, exports to Russia decreased significantly in March, with a year-on-year growth rate of - 7.7%, significantly lower than that from January to February.
In March, China's imports fell significantly, with a year-on-year growth rate of - 0.1%, which was largely impacted by the epidemic. This impact is reflected in three aspects: production, logistics and demand. From the production side, the production of enterprises under the impact of the epidemic has been affected, which has further affected their willingness to receive orders; In terms of logistics, the efficiency of port logistics has declined; From the demand side, the impact on Residents' consumption is obvious. The decline of domestic demand under the impact of the epidemic may be the main contradiction in the current economy. As a result, even if the price factor can still support imports in March, the growth rate of import amount has also dropped significantly.
