RECOVERY ON TRACK

The epidemic dealt a heavy blow to China's foreign trade. In the first two months of 2020, the total foreign trade in goods fell 9.6 percent year on year in yuan terms, with exports slumping 15.9 percent and imports down 2.4 percent, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) shows.

However, the declining trend was soon reversed amid the country's firm containment of COVID-19 in the following months, pointing to its strong resilience in the supply chain and manufacturing strength.

In April, China's goods exports went up 8.2 percent year on year, recording the first monthly positive growth. In June, its foreign trade rose 5.1 percent as exports and imports both saw positive growth, up 4.3 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

The sound recovery momentum was sustained. In the first 11 months, China's foreign trade in goods totaled 29.04 trillion yuan, up 1.8 percent year on year in yuan terms, accelerating from an increase of 1.1-percent in the first 10 months, the GAC data shows.

While the December statistics have not yet been unveiled, container throughput at major ports, a key barometer reflecting trade performance, continued to enjoy upward momentum.

From Dec. 11 to 20, container throughput at the eight key ports increased 9.8 percent year on year, following growth of 3.1-percent during the previous 10 days.

Specifically, the container throughput for foreign trade rose 11.9 percent from a year earlier, up 7 percentage points from the Dec. 1-10 period, the China Ports and Harbours Association said.