Nation expands imports to share market opportunities

China's expanded import drive for advanced technology and equipment, energy resources and agricultural products will reinforce the country's role as one of the world's largest markets and contribute to more balanced global trade, senior customs officials and importers said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Sun Meijun, minister of the General Administration of Customs, said that customs authorities will promote more coordinated growth in imports and exports and work to achieve more trade cooperation agreements during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.

The measures will enable more countries to share the opportunities created by China's vast market while offering Chinese consumers a broader range of high-quality products, Sun said, highlighting that the moves will also help develop new quality productive forces and accelerate industrial upgrading.

China's trade with the United States rebounded in April and continued expanding in May and June, indicating that the new positioning of China-US relations has provided greater certainty for bilateral and global trade and economic growth, she added.

Wang Jun, vice-minister of the GAC, said that China has become "a major trading partner of more than 160 countries and regions, with imports now sourced from a broader range of markets, covering a wider variety of products and featuring a more optimized structure".

The nation has recorded robust growth in imports of advanced equipment and key industrial inputs, Wang said, underscoring stronger demand driven by industrial upgrading and technological innovation.

Beijing Customs announced on Wednesday that the value of imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment surged 124.7 percent year-on-year to reach 23.43 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) between January and June, providing a strong boost to the city's overall import growth.

South China's distribution center for electronic components — a major import hub in Dongguan, Guangdong province, that serves the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — handled imports worth 36.47 billion yuan during the January-June period, up 13.11 percent year-on-year, according to Huangpu Customs.

Data from the GAC shows that since the beginning of this year, China has granted market access to 264 categories of agricultural and food products from 79 countries, bringing the number of source countries and regions for such imports to more than 150.

In early May, China expanded its zero-tariff treatment for imports to all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations.

According to Nanjing Customs, Zhongka Supply Chain Management (Kunshan) Co, an agricultural products importer based in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, imported 661 metric tons of coffee, mainly from Africa, in the first half of the year, up more than 100 percent year-on-year.

Qin Yumei, customs affairs manager at Zhongka, said the company mainly imports green coffee beans from African countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, adding that it plans to further diversify its sourcing by importing from more African countries.

"As more high-quality specialty products from Africa enter the Chinese market under the preferential tariff policy, their price competitiveness will be further enhanced. This will not only enrich China's consumer market, but also create new growth opportunities for importers like us," Qin added.