
Annual growth rate of imported goods in China 2012-2022
Goods import to China
In 2022, China’s total international trade value reached 42 trillion yuan, comprised of 24 trillion yuan merchandise export value and 18 trillion yuan import value. Imports accounted for nearly 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) that year.
China is the world’s second largest merchandise importer after the United States. Among the country’s major import goods are integrated circuits, crude oil, iron ore, plastics in primary forms, and motor vehicles.
The ASEAN was the major region exporting to China in 2022, accounting for over 15 percent of China’s total imports. The European Union was China's second largest import origin that year. In addition, China's closest neighbors – South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan – each covered around eight percent of the total import value.
Import growth
China's merchandise imports were stalled as a result of zero-COVID restrictions in 2022. Shanghai, China's second-largest import destination, was under full lockdown in the late spring of 2022. Several cities and provinces followed in the months that followed. As for trade partners, China increased its imports of merchandise from Russia significantly in 2022. That year, China imported more than 763.8 billion yuan of products from Russia, nearly 50 percent more than the year prior.