Statistics from Beijing Customs Area showed that in the first four months of 2021, imports and exports in Beijing (including central and state units in Beijing) reached CNY 921.12 billion, an increase of 15.9 percent year-on-year. The value of imports was CNY 739.55 billion, an increase of 18.2 percent year-on-year, and that of exports was CNY 181.57 billion, a 7.6 percent growth year-on-year.

In the first four months of this year, Beijing’s foreign trade also maintained a good momentum of development. An overall trend of recovery from a previous recessionary dip was observed. The total imports and exports of goods in the first four months climbed by 15.9 percent year-on-year, with a slight decline of 0.3 percent over the same period in 2019. The monthly growth rate has been increasing. This year, the monthly imports and exports in Beijing have maintained a high growth rate as the volume of imports and exports in February, March, and April increased by 11.9 percent, 25.2 percent and 42.2 percent respectively compared to the same period last year.

Imports of agricultural products, automobiles, iron ore, and ore concentrates drove import growth in Beijing. In the first four months, the import of agricultural products, automobiles, iron ore, and ore concentrates in Beijing went up by 73.2 percent, 57.6 percent and 36.1 percent respectively when compared with the same period last year, indicating an increase of CNY 29.24 billion, CNY 25.23 billion and CNY 14.19 billion to the volume of imports. Amongst agricultural products, the import of soybeans, corn, and wheat showed particularly substantial increases, with their volume respectively rising by CNY 13.35 billion, CNY 8.06 billion, and CNY 4.1 billion year-on-year.

Medical materials, pharmaceuticals, and cell phones also witnessed a significant increase in export volume. The export volume of these two categories increased by CNY 19.04 billion and CNY 14.52 billion respectively. Amongst medical materials and pharmaceuticals, the export of vaccines for human medicine showed a particularly significant increase, with volume rising by CNY 15.03 billion compared to the same period last year.