From January to April this year, Hangzhou (excluding provincial companies, the same below) achieved remarkable results in foreign trade, achieving a total import and export value of 302.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%.
Among them, exports were 213.33 billion yuan, an increase of 12.2%, and the growth rate was 0.9 and 5.7 percentage points higher than that of the country and the province; imports were 89.44 billion yuan, an increase of 12.6%, accounting for 19.1% of the province’s total import value.
From the perspective of monthly trends, April’s single-month performance is particularly outstanding.
Hangzhou’s import and export volume reached 86.15 billion yuan, an increase of 24.3%, and both import and export scales reached record highs.
Among them, exports were 58.71 billion yuan, an increase of 20.5%, and the growth rate was 10.7 and 15.4 percentage points higher than that of the country and the province; imports were 27.44 billion yuan, an increase of 33.5%, the highest growth rate since October 2023.
The rapid growth of imports is due to many factors.
On the one hand, as the effects of stabilizing growth policies have emerged, corporate production confidence has increased, and demand for imports of raw materials and intermediate goods continues to be released; on the other hand, Hangzhou’s digital economy and high-tech industries are booming, and there is strong demand for imports of key technology products such as integrated circuits and high-end equipment.
In April, Hangzhou’s copper ore imports were 3.86 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1 times; natural gas imports were 560 million yuan, an increase of 1.9 times.
At the same time, imports of consumer goods continue to pick up.
In March this year, the “Shared Big Market·Export to China” event was held in Hangzhou with the purpose of promoting the deep integration of import trade and consumption upgrading, helping China’s big market become a big opportunity for the world and further stimulating import vitality.
From the perspective of exports, the “ballast stone” role of leading enterprises is prominent.
In April, among the top 100 export companies in Hangzhou, 27 were among the province’s top 100 export companies, and 84 companies achieved positive growth. The city’s top 100 export companies collectively boosted the city’s export growth by 17.6 percentage points, contributing 86.1% to export growth.
Driven by the strong external demand for new energy products, in April, Hangzhou’s exports of “three new products” were 2.64 billion yuan, an increase of 37.7%.
Also benefiting are green products such as electric motorcycles.
A joint-stock company in Zhejiang combines the technical advantages of fuel motorcycles to promote independent research and development and production of electric motorcycles, and actively expands the international market.
Huang Kun, regional manager of the company’s department, said that this year the company has successfully developed export business in Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea and other countries. Under the guidance of the customs, the company applied for certificates of origin according to the regulations of different countries and regions. In the first four months, the total export volume of electric motorcycles increased by 72.5%.
In addition, the export of intelligent bionic robots with new tariff numbers this year has grown rapidly. In April, exports increased by 70.9% month-on-month, accounting for 54.8% of the country’s total export value of such goods, becoming another new growth point for Hangzhou’s advanced manufacturing exports.
From the perspective of market structure, the results of diversified layout are gradually emerging.
In April, Hangzhou’s exports to the EU increased by 25.2%, boosting the city’s exports by 4.7 percentage points.
During the same period, the growth rate of exports to ASEAN, Africa, Latin America and other markets exceeded 15%, effectively enhancing the ability to resist foreign trade risks.
