Imports to China unexpectedly fell by 2.1 percent year-on-year to USD 176.3 billion in August of 2020, missing market expectations of a 0.1 percent gain and following a 1.4 percent drop a month earlier. This was the second straight decline in imports, due to weak domestic consumption. Compared to the previous month, imports fell for major commodities including crude oil, iron ore and soybeans. Imports of copper were down 12.3 percent from a record high in July, but were still up by 65.5 percent from a year earlier. Imports of crude oil were 47.48 million tonnes in August, down from a record high in July but increased 12.6 percent from a year earlier. Iron ore imports fell 10.9 percent to 100.36 million tonnes, easing from a record high on fewer shipments from big miners and port congestion, but were still 5.8 percent higher over a year earlier. Purchases from the US went up 2 percent to USD 10.5 billion and those from the European Union plunged 29.7 percent.

Imports in China averaged 571.98 USD HML from 1981 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 1951.34 USD HML in September of 2018 and a record low of 13.88 USD HML in February of 1983. This page provides - China Imports - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. China Imports - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on October of 2020. source: General Administration of Customs

Imports in China is expected to be 1730.00 USD HML by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Imports in China to stand at 1750.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the China Imports is projected to trend around 1900.00 USD HML in 2021 and 1920.00 USD HML in 2022, according to our econometric models.

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China Imports

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
1763.34 1753.02 1951.34 13.88 1981 - 2020 USD HML Monthly
Current Prices, NSA


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-06-07 03:00 AM May -16.7% -14.2% -9.7% -10.8%
2020-07-14 03:00 AM Jun 2.7% -16.7% -10% -12%
2020-08-07 03:00 AM Jul -1.4% 2.7% 1% 1.5%
2020-09-07 03:00 AM Aug -2.1% -1.4% 0.1% 0.1%
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
China Imports Unexpectedly Drop in August
Imports to China unexpectedly fell by 2.1 percent year-on-year to USD 176.3 billion in August of 2020, missing market expectations of a 0.1 percent gain and following a 1.4 percent drop a month earlier. This was the second straight decline in imports, due to weak domestic consumption. Compared to the previous month, imports fell for major commodities including crude oil, iron ore and soybeans. Imports of copper were down 12.3 percent from a record high in July, but were still up by 65.5 percent from a year earlier. Imports of crude oil were 47.48 million tonnes in August, down from a record high in July but increased 12.6 percent from a year earlier. Iron ore imports fell 10.9 percent to 100.36 million tonnes, easing from a record high on fewer shipments from big miners and port congestion, but were still 5.8 percent higher over a year earlier. Purchases from the US went up 2 percent to USD 10.5 billion and those from the European Union plunged 29.7 percent.
2020-09-07
China Imports Unexpectedly Fall
Imports to China dropped by 1.4 percent year-on-year to USD 175.3 billion in July 2020, missing market expectations of a 1 percent gain and following a 2.7 percent rise a month earlier, due to weaker commodities prices and payback following strong shipments the previous year. Meanwhile, import volumes of industrial raw materials remained robust, with record imports of iron ore and copper, along with a sharp jump in crude oil. Among major trade partners, imports were down from Australia (-7.2 percent), but increased from Taiwan (16.6 percent), ASEAN (3.1 percent), Japan (5.1 percent), South Korea (4.8 percent) and the US (3.6 percent).
2020-08-07
China Imports Beat Forecasts
Imports to China unexpectedly grew by 2.7 percent year-on-year to USD 167.15 billion in June 2020, easily beating market consensus of a 10 percent slump and after a 16.7 percent fall a month earlier. This was the first increase in inbound shipments this year, amid signs that the recovery from the virus crisis is gaining traction. China's unwrought copper imports soared by 101.4 percent year-on-year to hit a record high of 656,483 tonnes in June, amid increased manufacturing activity and shortages of scrap. Also, purchases of iron ore jumped 35.3 percent to the largest since October 2017 of 101.68 million tonnes. Imports of crude oil reached 53.18 million tonnes, or 12.9 million barrels per day, surpassing a prior record of 11.3 million bpd in May. Arrivals of soybeans climbed 71 percent to the largest on record of 11.16 million tonnes. In contrast, China's coal imports dropped 6.7 percent due to stringent purchase restrictions at ports despite solid fuel demand.
2020-07-14
China Imports Drop the Most Since 2016
Imports to China slumped 16.7% yoy to USD 143.89 billion in May 2020, following a 14.2% fall in the prior month and compared to market expectations of a 9.7% drop, and marking the steepest decline since January 2016, due to deteriorating domestic demand. There were declines in imports of aluminium (-28.6%), the lowest since February 2019, due to a fall in demand of Chinese metal. Also, imports of copper concentrate fell by 8.1% while those of coal dropped nearly 20% even as demand recovered at power plants and industrial users. Meantime, imports of iron ore rose (3.9%), amid high prices. Still, there were decreases in demand from the previous month, with iron ore falling by 9% to 87.03 million tonnes from 95.71 million tonnes. On the other hand, imports of unwrought copper increased by 20.8% yoy, but was down 5.5% from April, the lowest monthly total since last October. Meanwhile, imports of crude oil jumped 19.2% yoy, to the highest monthly level on record.
2020-06-07

China Imports
In 2019 imports to China fell 2.7 percent, the first yearly decline in three years, on weak domestic demand and persistent trade tensions with the US. Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 38 percent of total imports on the back of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances (21 percent), road vehicles (4 percent), telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (3 percent), and office machines and automatic data processing machines (3 percent). Other important categories were: mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (17 percent) led by petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (13 percent) and gas, natural and manufactured (3 percent); crude materials, inedible, except fuels (14 percent), such as metalliferous ores and metal scrap (9 percent); chemicals and related products (11 percent) due to organic chemicals (3 percent) and plastics in primary forms (3 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (7 percent); manufactured goods classified chiefly by material (7 percent); and food and live animals (4 percent). The biggest source of imports was the EU (13 percent of imports) of which Germany (5 percent) and France (2 percent), followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Japan (8 percent each), the US and Australia (6 percent each), Brazil (4 percent), Malaysia, Vietnam, Russia and Saudi Arabia (3 percent each), and Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia (2 percent each).
China Imports by Country Last Previous
European Union 34693700.00 24717800.00 USD THO Feb/20
Taiwan 18651000.00 17294400.00 USD THO Aug/20
South Korea 14372500.00 15172700.00 USD THO Aug/20
Japan 14236400.00 15333800.00 USD THO Aug/20
United States 10532900.00 11275700.00 USD THO Aug/20
Germany 9125900.00 8799900.00 USD THO Aug/20
Australia 8807800.00 10783400.00 USD THO Aug/20
Brazil 8753300.00 8143300.00 USD THO Aug/20
Malaysia 6482600.00 6279500.00 USD THO Aug/20
Vietnam 6178000.00 5662200.00 USD THO Aug/20
Russia 4539600.00 4779800.00 USD THO Aug/20
Thailand 4022800.00 4106600.00 USD THO Aug/20
Singapore 3555600.00 2472600.00 USD THO Aug/20
Indonesia 3129700.00 2886100.00 USD THO Aug/20
Saudi Arabia 2605678.00 2315869.00 USD THO Aug/20
France 2301000.00 2450300.00 USD THO Aug/20
India 2110200.00 2423300.00 USD THO Aug/20
Italy 1986700.00 1996200.00 USD THO Aug/20
Canada 1962500.00 2239400.00 USD THO Aug/20
Switzerland 1937811.00 1295198.00 USD THO Aug/20
China Imports by Category Last Previous
Mechanical & Electrical Products 81272300.00 80071600.00 USD THO Aug/20
High-&-new-tech Products 58946600.00 56232400.00 USD THO Aug/20
Integrated Circuit 31194400.00 29294100.00 USD THO Aug/20
Fuels & Related Materials 22026756.00 21869390.00 USD THO Aug/20
Crude Petroleum (value) 14922900.00 14341400.00 USD THO Aug/20
Agricultural Products 13635700.00 14798000.00 USD THO Aug/20
Iron Ore & Concentrates 10380000.00 10936300.00 USD THO Aug/20
Iron Ores & Concentrate 10380000.00 10936300.00 USD THO Aug/20
Automatic Data Proc. Eq. & Components 4815400.00 4586100.00 USD THO Aug/20
Unwrought Copper & Copper Products 4376400.00 4723900.00 USD THO Aug/20
Motor Vehicles & Chassis 4199000.00 3241500.00 USD THO Aug/20
Iron & Steel 4008592.00 3758519.00 USD THO Aug/20
Soybean 3626300.00 3788000.00 USD THO Aug/20
Measuring Instruments 3380374.00 3521210.00 USD THO Aug/20
Pharmaceuticals 3217200.00 3105800.00 USD THO Aug/20
Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Products 3076606.00 2972094.00 USD THO Aug/20
Parts of Motor Vehicles 2914000.00 3188300.00 USD THO Aug/20
Copper & Its Alloys 2760280.00 2570289.00 USD THO Dec/19
Copper Ore & Concentrate 2530200.00 2534200.00 USD THO Aug/20
Copper Ores & Concentrate 2530200.00 2534200.00 USD THO Aug/20

United Nations Comtrade Database
Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category