The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China announced the cumulative import and export data for July and January-July this year. The main information related to some furniture exports is as follows (denominated in RMB):

The export value of furniture and its parts in July was 39.21 billion yuan, an increase of 12.2% from June; the cumulative export value from January to July was 196.82 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.6% from the same period in 2019 (year-on-year), and the rate of decline was narrower than that of January-June6 Percentage points, the situation continues to improve.

From January to July, the cumulative export value of related products in the four categories of furniture, lamps, lighting devices and parts, ceramic products and textile products was 1,039.89 billion yuan, an increase of 23.6% from the cumulative data from January to June.

Except for furniture, textile exports amounted to 634.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.8%. Lamps and lanterns were 124.8 billion yuan, up 2.7% year-on-year; ceramics were 84.05 billion yuan, down 25.4% year-on-year.

Overall, from January to July this year, the total value of my country's import and export of goods trade was 17.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%, and the rate of decline narrowed by 1.5 percentage points from January to June. Among them, exports were 9.4 trillion yuan, down 0.9% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed 2.1 percentage points from January to June; imports were 7.8 trillion yuan, down 2.6% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 0.7 percentage points from January to June; trade surplus 1,631.15 billion yuan.

In July, my country's foreign trade imports and exports were 2.9 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. Among them, exports were 1.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%; imports were 1.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%; the trade surplus was 442.24 billion yuan.

Imports and exports to ASEAN, the European Union and Japan increased, while imports to the United States declined. In the first seven months, China’s total trade value with ASEAN was 2.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.6%, accounting for 14.6% of China’s total foreign trade value. Among them, China's exports to ASEAN were 1.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6%; imports from ASEAN were 1.11 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.8%; the trade surplus with ASEAN was 288.13 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.1%.

The total value of trade with the EU was 2.41 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.1%, accounting for 14% of our total foreign trade value. Among them, China's exports to the EU were 1.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 4%; imports from the EU were 936.72 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.6%; and the trade surplus with the EU was 534.78 billion yuan, an increase of 26.5%.

The total value of Sino-US trade was 2.03 trillion yuan, down 3.3%, accounting for 11.8% of our total foreign trade value. Among them, China’s exports to the United States were 1.56 trillion yuan, a decrease of 4.1%; imports from the United States were 475.5 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.3%; and the trade surplus with the United States was 1.08 trillion yuan, a decrease of 5.7%.

The total value of Sino-Japanese trade was 1.22 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.1%, accounting for 7.1% of our total foreign trade value. Among them, exports to Japan were 557.13 billion yuan, an increase of 0.2%; imports from Japan were 666.85 billion yuan, an increase of 1.8%; the trade deficit with Japan was 109.72 billion yuan, an increase of 10.8%.

The import and export of private enterprises increased and their proportion increased. In the first seven months, the import and export of private enterprises was 7.83 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2%, accounting for 45.6% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 3.8 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 5.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.4%, and accounted for 54.5% of the total export value; imports were 2.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7%, and accounted for 34.9% of the total import value.

Analysts said that the performance of foreign trade exports in July exceeded expectations. With the accelerated resumption of overseas work and production, the external demand situation is expected to be gradually restored, and exports are expected to stabilize in a positive growth range.

Tang Jianwei, chief researcher of the Financial Research Center of the Bank of Communications, said that China's exports have achieved positive growth, which is better than the export situation of neighboring countries, indicating that China's export competitiveness is still strong. From the perspective of trade regions, China’s imports and exports to ASEAN continue to grow, and ASEAN has become my country’s largest trading partner, making a significant contribution to the resilience of China’s exports throughout the first half of the year, including July.

The leading manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) also confirms the veracity of the improved export data. China's manufacturing PMI rose to 51.1% in July, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, and was above the threshold for five consecutive months. Among them, the "new orders index" has rebounded for three consecutive months, which means that my country's export growth rate is still supported in the short term, and exports in August are expected to continue to maintain positive growth year-on-year.