In the first three quarters, China's balance of payments was basically balanced

Beijing, November 5 (Reporter Ge Mengchao) On the 5th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released preliminary data on the balance of payments for the first three quarters of 2021. Data show that in the first three quarters of 2021, China's balance of payments is basically balanced. Among them, the current account surplus was $202.8 billion, or 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the same period.

From the data, in the first three quarters of 2021, the balance of payments caliber trade surplus in goods was 379.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 16% year-on-year. Among them, the export of goods trade was 2.3 trillion US dollars, an increase of 31% year-on-year; the import of 1.9 trillion US dollars, an increase of 34% year-on-year.

Wang Chunying, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesman of the Press, said that the export data reflect that the sustained recovery and development of China's economy has laid the foundation for the sustained growth of foreign trade, as well as the recovery of the global economy and trade and the increase in international demand. Import data mainly reflect the gradual recovery of domestic demand, while international commodity prices have risen, pushing up import prices.

At the same time, in the first three quarters of 2021, the service trade deficit was US$82.1 billion, down 30% year-on-year. Travel, IP royalties and transport were the main deficit items.

In addition, direct investment in the first three quarters of this year showed a large surplus. In the first three quarters of 2021, net direct investment inflows amounted to US$163.6 billion. Among them, the net inflow of direct investment in China was 249.1 billion US dollars, indicating that foreign capital maintained confidence in investing in China; the net outflow of China's foreign direct investment was 85.5 billion US dollars, remaining stable.

Author: Ge Mengchao

Source: People's Daily