BEIJING: Lists of China’s top 200 import and export companies revealed the country’s shifting trade landscape, with private companies and firms from central and western regions accounting for an increasing share.
The companies’ combined imports and exports surged 21.7 percent year on year to 8.2 trillion yuan (about 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars) last year and contributed to 54.3 percent of the country’s total trade growth, according to data from China Customs, a magazine affiliated with the General Administration of Customs.
A breakdown of the list showed fast development of China’s private companies, whose number expanded to 53 in the top 200 importer list, from 41 in 2017, and grew to 49 in the top 200 exporter list, up from 45 in 2017.
Although trade companies from eastern regions still dominated the lists, those from central and western regions demonstrated increasing presence, with their combined imports and exports accounting for 14.8 percent of the country’s total, up from 14.2 percent in 2017.
An analysis of the lists also showed China’s trade enterprises are pursuing a strategy of diversifying markets, the magazine reported. Some 74 companies of the top 200 exporters had shipments to more than 100 countries and regions, while the top 200 import companies imported goods from 195 countries and regions.
