Chinese private firms make progress in 2024 foreign trade

China's private enterprises remained the leading category of foreign trade operators in the country for a sixth straight year, making notable achievements in foreign trade in 2024, according to the General Administration of Customs.

These achievements include the number of private enterprises that conducted import-export activities surpassing 600,000 for the first time in 2024, reaching 609,000 last year. Chinese private enterprises also emerged as the country's largest traders of high-tech products, with their share rising by 3 percentage points to 48.5 percent of total high-tech trade in 2024.

Additionally, private firms for the first time accounted for more than half of China's consumer goods imports, with their share climbing 2.8 percentage points to 51.3 percent -- notably exceeding 60 percent in categories such as cosmetics and fruit.

Chinese private enterprises continued to lead the country's foreign trade with transactions totaling 24.33 trillion yuan (US$3.4 trillion) last year, posting an 8.8 percent year-on-year increase and contributing 55.5 percent of the country's total foreign trade value.

Meanwhile, foreign-invested companies recorded 12.8 trillion yuan in trade last year, an increase of 1.5 percent, with momentum picking up in the second half of 2024. State-owned enterprises contributed 6.61 trillion yuan to foreign trade, playing a vital role in importing strategic commodities, including grain and energy resources.

The total number of companies with import-export activities across private, foreign-invested and state-owned sectors reached a record high of nearly 700,000 in 2024.