The Report on 2021 Rankings for Imports in China Released

By Wei Hao,Li Mingxu

In 2020， despite the epidemic of COVID-19 impacted the world heavily， China still accelerated the pace to expand the opening up， carried out a series of relevant initiatives and measures， and held the third China International Import Expo （CIIE） as scheduled. Before the 4th CIIE， in order to help deepen the understanding in China and around the world on the development of Chinas imports， 2021 Rankings for Imports in China was compiled， which gave analysis on the imports into China from the perspectives of regional import trade， such as by pro vinces， municipalities， cities， sources， industries， customs， high-tech industrial development zones， economic and technological development zones， and free trade zones， to provide comprehensive understanding of the latest development and trends in import trade in China in 2020.

2020 Rankings for imports by provinces and municipalities in China

Guangdong Province was ranked the first in terms of import value in 2020， namely USD 395.2 billion， accounting for 19.23% of the total imports into China. In 2020， the top five provinces and municipalities in order in China were Guangdong Province， Shanghai Municipality， Beijing Municipality， Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province， and the imports of these five provinces and municipalities accounted for 65.4% of the total. The top five in 2019 were Guangdong Province， Beijing， Shanghai， Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province in order.

Zhejiang Province leaded in the increase in imports in 2020. From the perspective of import value， Beijing Municipality， Guangdong Province， Jiangsu Province， Tianjin Municipality， Liaoning Province， Heilongjiang Province， Shanghai Municipality， Shandong Province， Jilin Province， Guizhou Province， Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region， Yunnan Province， Tibet Autonomous Region， Qinghai Province， a total of 14 provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions recorded decreases in 2020. For example， the import value of Beijing Municipality， Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province were reduced by about USD 70.4 billion， USD 42.7 billion， and USD 13.4 billion. Meanwhile， the other provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions of other provinces recorded increases in 2020， leaded by Zhejiang Province which had an increase of about USD 13.37 billion from a year ago.

From the perspective of the rankings， compared with those in 2019， in 2020 Hebei Province， Hunan Province， Fujian Province， Henan Province， Shanghai Municipality， Chongqing Municipality， Hubei Province， Jiangxi Province， Qinghai Province， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， Anhui Province and Hainan Province， of which Hebei Province and Hunan Province had the largest changes in rankings of two places， and the others rose one place. Meanwhile， those who had a dropped ranking included Heilongjiang Province， Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， Jilin Province， Beijing Municipality， Shanxi Province， Tianjin Municipality， Tibet Autonomous Region， Gansu Province and Yunnan Province， of which Heilongjiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region went down by 4 and 3 places， and the others by 1.

From the perspective of the share they took in the total， compared with 2019， in 2020 Zhejiang Province， Sichuan Province， Fujian Province， Henan Province and Hebei Province had the largest increases of 0.85， 0.56， 0.53， 0.47 and 0.4 percentage points respectively. For the same comparison， Beijing Munici-pality， Guangdong Province， Tianjin Municipality， Liaoning Province and Heilongjiang Province， had the largest declines in 2020 of 2.81， 1.28， 0.45， 0.35 and 0.2 percentage points， respectively.

2020 rankings for imports by cities in China

Shenzhen took the lead in terms of import value among cities in China in 2020， namely USD 195.5 billion， accounting for 9.51% of the total. The top five cities in China with the highest import value in 2020 were Shenzhen， Suzhou， Dongguan， Guangzhou and Ningbo in order， the same as in 2019.

Wuxi was the city recorded the largest increase in import value in 2020， compared with 2019， followed by Suzhou， Zhengzhou， Chengdu and Xiamen， up by USD 9.23 billion， USD 8.43 billion， USD 8.26 billion， USD 7.60 billion and USD 6.42 billion， respectively. Meanwhile， top five cities with the largest decrease in import value in 2020 were Guangzhou， Daqing， Dalian， Foshan and Dongguan， down by USD 9.47 billion， USD 4.20 billion， USD 3.68 billion， USD 2.52 billion and USD 2.51 billion， respectively.

In terms of the shares in the total imports compared with 2019， the five cities with the largest increase in 2020 were Suzhou， Wuxi， Zhengzhou， Shenzhen and Chengdu， up by 0.47， 0.46， 0.41， 0.39 and 0.38 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile， top five cities with the largest decreases in 2020 were Guangzhou， Daqing， Dalian， Foshan and Zhuhai， down by 0.43， 0.20， 0.16， 0.11 and 0.09 percentage points， respectively.

2020 Rankings for imports in mainland China by sources

In 2020， the largest exporter to mainland China was Taiwan of China， with the value of imports from Taiwan of China into mainland China reaching USD 200.6 billion， accounting for 9.76% of mainland Chinas total imports. In 2020， top five exporters to mainland China were Taiwan of China， Japan， South Korea， the United States and Australia， contributing up to 38.82% of mainland Chinas total imports. In 2019， top five exporters to mainland China were South Korea， Taiwan of China， Japan， the United States and Australia， which together supplied 36.71% of mainland Chinas total imports.

In 2020， Taiwan of China had the largest increase in the value of exports to mainland China， followed by Vietnam， the United States， Brazil and Norway， up by USD 27.6 billion， USD 14.3 billion， USD 12.1 billion， USD 4.3 billion and USD 3.4 billion， respectively. In terms of the shares in the total imports into mainland China， Taiwan of China， Vietnam， the United States， Brazil， and Japan recorded the largest increases in 2020 compared to 2019， up by 1.43， 0.73， 0.65， 0.25， and 0.24 percentage points， respectively.

2020 rankings for imports in China by industries

Electromechanical products were ranked the first among imported products into China in 2020. In 2020， the industry with the largest import value was electric motors， electrical equipment and parts， sound recorders and reproducers， television image， sound recording and playback equipment and parts and accessories， with an import value of USD 548.7 billion， accounting for 26.70% of the total imports in China. In 2019 this industry recorded the largest import value in China， too， accounted for 23.95% of the total imports.

In 2020， top five industries with the largest import value in China were：（1） electric motors， electrical equipment and parts， sound recorders and reproducers， television image， sound recording and playback equipment and parts and accessories； （2） mineral fuels， mineral oil and the distillation products； asphalt substances； mineral wax； （3） nuclear reactors， boilers， machines， mechanical appliances and parts； （4） mineral sands， slag and mineral ash； （5） Optical， photographic， cinematographic， measuring， inspection， medical or surgical instruments and equipment， precision instruments and equipment； parts and accessories of above items， exactly the same as in 2019. In 2020， the top five industries accounted for 62.63% of the total imports into China.

2020 rankings for imports into China by regional customs

Shanghai Customs leaded in im-port value among customs in China in 2020， namely USD 390.7 billion， accounting for 19.01% of the total， followed by Shenzhen Customs， Nanjing Customs， Qingdao Customs and Huangpu Customs， the same as in 2019. In 2020， top five customs contributed 54.46% of the total imports into China， and 71.78% by the top ten.

2020 Rankings for imports in China by high-tech industrial development zones

Among 51 high-tech industrial development zones covered by the paper， Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone recorded a higher import value in 2020 than other high-tech industrial development zones in China， namely USD 39.1 billion， accounting for 1.9% of the total of Chinas imports， and 37.9% of the imports by the 51 high-tech industrial development zones. In 2020， the others of top five high-tech industrial development zones with the largest import value were Wuxi National Hightech District， Suzhou National High-tech District， Guangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Huizhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone. Compared with 2019， Suzhou National High-tech District rose by 1 place， while Guangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone down by 1 place. In 2020， the top five high-tech industrial development zones contributed 4.4% of the total imports into China， accounting for 87.5% of the imports by 51 hightech industrial development zones. The import value of Chengdu HiTech Industrial Development Zone was 8 times of that of Huizhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone （5th）， and 50 times of that of Mianyang National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone （10th）.

2020 Rankings for Imports in China by Economic and Technological Development Zones

Among 74 economic and technological development zones covered in this paper， Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area had the largest import value in 2020， reaching USD 19.6 billion， accounting for 0.95% of the total imports into China and 16.0% of the total imports of 74 economic and technological development zones. In 2020， top five economic and technological development zones with the largest import value were Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area， Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone， Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area， Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District and Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone. Compared with 2019， Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone rose by 4 places， Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area and Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone down by 1 and 2 places respectively. In 2020， top five ETDZs contributed 3.34% of the total imports in China and 55.9% of that of the 74 ETDZs. The import value of Tianjin Economic and Technological Development area was four times of that of Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area （10th）， and 16.8 times of that of Shanghai Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone （20th）.

2020 Rankings for imports in China by free trade zones

Of 11 FTZs covered in this paper， Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone had the largest import value in China in 2020， reaching USD 100.48 billion， accounting for 4.89% of the total imports in China and 65% of the total of 11 FTZs. In 2020， top five FTZs with the largest import value in China were Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone， Futian Free Trade Zone， Ningbo Free Trade Zone， Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone. Top four were the same as in 2009， while Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone was ranked the fifth， taking the place of Guangzhou Free Trade Zone. In 2020， the import value of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone was more than one thousand times larger than that of Shantou Free Trade Zone （11th）. Compared with 2019， Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone had the largest increase in import value in 2020， at USD 3.6 billion， while Zhuhai Free Trade Zone had the largest decrease of USD 440 million.

（Authors： Wei Hao， professor from Business School， Beijing Normal University， and Director of National Import Research Center； Li Mingxu， from Business School， Beijing Normal University）