The article is translated from the ” yicai.com -China Business Network “.
China’s foreign trade rankings: 7 cities have over one trillion foreign trade imports and exports. And how did Zhengzhou break through?
Where are China’s major foreign trade markets? How has China’s urban foreign trade pattern changed in recent years?
According to the relevant data of the statistical bulletins of various places, the CBN reporter found that in 2021, the top 20 cities in China’s foreign trade import and export are Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Suzhou, Dongguan, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Tianjin, Qingdao, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Foshan, Zhengzhou, Jinhua, Xi’an and Dalian. And the total foreign trade volume of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen ranks among the top three.
It is worth noting that in recent years, the foreign trade of many central cities in the central and western regions has developed rapidly, becoming new highlands for China’s foreign trade.
Top 20 cities for foreign trade import and export in 2021 (Unit: 100 million yuan)
City | Foreign trade | Growth rate | Export | Export share | Import | Import share | GDP | Foreign trade dependence |
Shanghai | 40610.35 | 16.50% | 15718.67 | 38.7% | 24891.68 | 61.3% | 43214.85 | 94.0% |
Shenzhen | 35435.57 | 16.20% | 19263.41 | 54.4% | 16172.16 | 45.6% | 30664.85 | 115.6% |
Beijing | 30438.4 | 30.60% | 6118.5 | 20.1% | 24319.9 | 79.9% | 40269.6 | 75.6% |
Suzhou | 25332 | 13.50% | 14875.8 | 58.7% | 10456.2 | 41.3% | 22718.3 | 111.5% |
Dongguan | 15247.03 | 14.60% | 9559.82 | 62.7% | 5687.21 | 37.3% | 10855.35 | 140.5% |
Ningbo | 11926.1 | 21.60% | 7624.3 | 63.9% | 4301.8 | 36.1% | 14594.9 | 81.7% |
Guangzhou | 10825.88 | 13.50% | 6312.17 | 58.3% | 4513.71 | 41.7% | 28231.97 | 38.3% |
Xiamen | 8876.52 | 27.70% | 4307.3 | 48.5% | 4569.22 | 51.5% | 70333.89 | 126.3% |
Tianjin | 8567.42 | 16.30% | 3875.61 | 45.2% | 4691.81 | 54.8% | 15695.05 | 54.6% |
Qingdao | 8498.4 | 32.40% | 4921.3 | 57.9% | 3577.1 | 42.1% | 14136.46 | 60.1% |
Chengdu | 8222 | 14.80% | 4841.2 | 58.9% | 3380.8 | 41.1% | 19917 | 41.3% |
Chongqing | 8000.59 | 22.80% | 5168.33 | 64.6% | 2832.26 | 35.4% | 27894.02 | 28.7% |
Hangzhou | 7369 | 23.70% | 4647 | 63.1% | 2722 | 36.9% | 18109 | 40.7% |
Wuxi | 6819.3 | 20.40% | 4216 | 61.8% | 2603.3 | 38.2% | 14993.24 | 48.7% |
Nanjing | 6366.83 | 19.20% | 3989.89 | 62.7% | 2376.94 | 37.3% | 16355.32 | 38.9% |
Foshan | 6160.7 | 21.70% | 5007.4 | 81.3% | 1153.3 | 18.7% | 12156.54 | 50.7% |
Zhengzhou | 5892.1 | 19.10% | 3552.8 | 60.3% | 2339.3 | 39.7% | 12691 | 46.4% |
Jinhua | 5990.1 | 20.80% | 5326.3 | 90.6% | 553.8 | 9.4% | 5355.44 | 109.8% |
Xian | 4399.96 | 26.50% | 2361.92 | 53.7% | 2038.04 | 54.5% | 7825.9 | 54.3% |
Among them, Shanghai’s foreign trade import and export exceeded the 4 trillion mark for the first time, reaching 4,061 billion yuan. After Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing also exceeded 3 trillion yuan. Besides, the foreign trade import and export of these three cities has exceeded 10 trillion yuan, accounting for 27.2% of the national total.
Outside of these three major cities, Suzhou, the “best prefecture-level city”, lives alone, with a value of more than 2.5 trillion yuan. While Dongguan, the “world factory”, has reached 1.5 trillion yuan. In addition, Ningbo and Guangzhou have also exceeded 1 trillion yuan. That is to say, by 2021, there are 7 cities whose foreign trade imports and exports has exceeded the 1 trillion yuan mark in China.
From the perspective of the composition of the top 20 cities for import and export, they are mainly municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities under separate state planning, some provincial capitals, and cities with a GDP of trillions such as Suzhou, Dongguan, Wuxi, and Foshan. Among them, what attracts attention is that Jinhua, an ordinary prefecture-level city with a small economic aggregate, also ranks in the top 20.
In Jinhua’s foreign trade import and export, Yiwu, the “capital of small commodities”, occupies the majority. Yiwu market is one of the largest small commodity wholesale markets in the world, bringing together more than 2.1 million kinds of commodities and selling them to more than 210 countries and regions around the world. Data show that in 2021, Yiwu’s total import and export volume has reached 390.305 billion yuan, an increase of 24.7%. Exports were 10365.912 billion yuan, an increase of 21.8%.
In terms of imports, the top ten cities for imports in 2021 are Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Dongguan, Tianjin, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Ningbo and Qingdao. Among them, Shanghai’s imports reached 2,489.168 billion yuan, ranking first.
Top 20 cities for imports in 2021
Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Dongguan, Tianjin, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Xian, Yantai, Zhuhai
In recent years, Shanghai has used the big platform of the China International Import Expo to display the city’s image, improve its core functions, and continue to expand its spillover effect. A series of exhibits of the CIIE have become commodities in Shanghai, exhibitors have become investors, and the accelerated application of various cutting-edge technologies has effectively driven the transformation and upgrading of related industries in Shanghai.
After Shanghai, Beijing’s imports of goods also exceeded 2.4 trillion yuan. Shenzhen and Suzhou, two major industrial cities, also surpassed the trillion-yuan mark.
In terms of exports, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou exceeded the trillion yuan mark. Among them, Shenzhen’s total exports in 2021 were 1,926.341 billion yuan, an increase of 13.5%, with its total export value ranking first among large and medium-sized cities in the mainland for 29 consecutive years.
Top 20 cities for exports in 2021
Shenzhen, Shanghai, Suzhou, Dongguan, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Beijing, Jinhua, Chongqing, Foshan, Qingdao, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuxi, Nanjing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing
From the perspective of the proportion of imports to foreign trade, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Dalian and other cities are in the forefront. In terms of the proportion of exports, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Wenzhou, Zhongshan, Foshan and other ordinary prefecture-level cities are in the forefront.
Xiao Yaofei, a professor at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and a senior researcher at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Research Institute, analyzed that Shaoxing, Foshan and other prefecture-level cities are production-oriented cities with more production and exports. For example, several production-oriented cities in Guangdong Cities are large surpluses.
There are two types of imported goods, one is intermediate products, which are imported for production. There is also a final consumer product, which is imported due to the large population and large consumption in big cities. On the other hand, importers are often large trading companies, mainly in big cities. Through them, the products are dispersed to various places. The actual consumption is not necessarily in this city, but often covers consumption in surrounding areas.
From the perspective of foreign trade dependence, the degree of urban economic export is also called foreign trade dependence. That refers to the proportion of the total foreign trade of a city or region to GDP, which reflects the closeness of a regional economy and the international economy. From the perspective of the foreign trade dependence of the top 20 cities in terms of foreign trade volume, a total of 5 cities exceeded 100%, namely Dongguan, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiamen and Jinhua. Among them, the “world factory” Dongguan ranked first with 140.5%.
On the whole, since the reform and opening up, China’s southeast coast has taken the lead in integrating into the global industrial chain and has become a part of it. While China’s advantages in the international industrial chain are mainly reflected in the manufacturing sector, especially light industry manufacturing, which is the mainstay of China’s export industry. And the most concentrated light industry manufacturing is in the southeast coastal areas.
However, after 2008, the cost of land and labor in developed coastal areas keeps rising. Many industries and production capacity in the developed coastal areas have been transferred to the central and western regions. In particular, the strong provincial capital cities and municipalities in the central and western regions rely on various advantages such as solid urban development foundation, convenient transportation network (such as international airports, high-speed railways, etc.), abundant labor force in the province and surrounding areas, and low land costs. For that reason, a large number of large enterprises have been attracted to settle down. Besides, the foreign trade industry has risen rapidly, which in turn promotes the process of employment and urbanization in the province and surrounding areas.
According to the data, among the top 20 foreign trade import and export cities in 2021, a total of 4 central and western cities were included, namely Chongqing, the municipality directly under the Central Government, Chengdu and Xi’an, the traditional central cities of large areas, and Zhengzhou, the capital of a province with a large registered population.
Among them, Zhengzhou’s performance is quite interesting. Foxconn settled in Zhengzhou Airport Area in 2010 and officially began to build a factory there. Since the arrival of Foxconn, the import and export of foreign trade in Henan Province has grown by leaps and bounds. Data show that in 2009, the total import and export volume of Henan Province only ranked 17th in the country. But by 2021, the total import and export value of Henan’s foreign trade will reach 820.81 billion yuan, an increase of 22.9% over 2020. What’s more, in 2021, Henan’s total import and export value ranked first in the central region, second in the central and western regions, and 10th in the country. Since 2012, Henan’s foreign trade import and export has maintained the first place in central China for a long time.
Foxconn’s share of Henan’s foreign trade imports and exports rose from 28.7% in 2011 to its peak of 67.5% in 2015. Although there has been a decline in recent years, this proportion is still more than half, around 60%.
Data show that in 2019, Zhengzhou Foxconn ranked first in the country with a total export value of 31.6 billion US dollars, and was the largest foreign trade export enterprise in China that year. According to the average exchange rate of the year, the export value of Zhengzhou Foxconn accounted for 81.4% of the total export value of Zhengzhou.
“The reason why I chose Zhengzhou for my industry is because I like the airport, population and location here.” Given by Foxconn founder Terry Gou when Foxconn just decided to settle in Zhengzhou more than ten years ago.
How rich is the labor force in Henan? Statistics show that Henan has a resident population of more than 98 million and a registered population of more than 100 million. In 2010, when Foxconn settled in Zhengzhou, the urbanization rate of Henan was only 38.52%, which was far lower than the national average. At that time, land prices in developed coastal areas such as Shenzhen were already very high. With the transformation and upgrading of Shenzhen, the foundry giants also needed to find new landing space.
Xiao Yaofei said that processing trade enterprises have a large demand for labor and a high proportion of labor costs. Henan has the most abundant human resources and many preferential policies. In terms of transportation, mobile phone products have small size, low weight, high added value, and strong timeliness. It is very advantageous to transport by plane. Apple mobile phones produced by Foxconn have begun to be shipped to all parts of the world by plane.
Niu Fengrui, a researcher at the Urban Development and Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that:
For enterprises with a large demand for labor, choosing a city like Zhengzhou can give full play to the advantages of sufficient local labor resources, coupled with lower land costs, the development space is very large, it is a very rational choice.
For the local area, the introduction of such large enterprises is also conducive to accelerating local industrial and economic development, and promoting the employment and urbanization of the nearby population.
For employees, compared with the long-distance population movement, it is a rational choice to go to the provincial capital for employment. Because the migration cost is relatively low and it is convenient to take care of the family.
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