In August 2019, China’s international trade in goods and services recorded receipts of RMB 1621.6 billion and payments of RMB 1506.5 billion based on statistics of balance of payments (BOP), registering a surplus of RMB 115.1 billion. Specifically, trade in goods registered receipts of RMB 1487.3 billion,payments of RMB 1186.7billion, recording a surplus of RMB 300.6 billion; trade in services recorded receipts of RMB 134.3billion,payments of RMB 319.8billion, resulting in a deficit of RMB 185.5billion.

In the US dollar terms, in August 2019, China's BOP-based receipts and payments of international trade in goods and services were USD 231billion and USD 214.6billion respectively, registering a surplus of USD 16.4 billion. Specifically, the receipts and payments from trade in goods were USD 211.8billion and USD 169billion respectively, resulting in a surplus of USD 42.8billion. Trade in services registered receipts and payments of USD 19.1 billion and USD 45.5 billion respectively, recording a deficitof USD 26.4 billion. (End)

International Trade in Goods and Services of China

(Based on the BOP statistics)

August 2019

Notes:

1. The trade in goods and services in this table refers to the transactions between residents and non-residents, based on the same standard as that for BOP statement. The monthly dataare preliminary and may be inconsistent with the quarterly data in the BOP statement.

2. The data on international trade in goods and services are prepared in USD, and the RMB data for the current month is derived by converting the USD data at the monthly average central parityrate of the RMB against the USD.

3. This table employs rounded-off numbers.

Definition of Indicators:

Goods and Services: refers to the trade in goods and services between residents and non-residents, which is based on the samestandard as that for the BOP statement.

1. Goods:refers to transactions in goods whereby the economic ownership is transferred between the Chinese residents and non-residents. The credit side records export of goods, while the debit side records import of goods. The data of goods account are mainly from the customs statistics of imports and exports, butdiffer from the statistics of the customs mainly in the following aspects:first, the goods in the BOP statement only reflect the goods whose ownership has been transferred (e.g. goods under the trade modes such as general tradeand processing trade with imported materials), while the goods whose ownership is not transferred (e.g. manufacturing services with suppliedmaterials or with exported materials) are included in the statistics of tradein services instead of the statistics of trade in goods; second, as required by the BOP statistics, the goods imported and exported are valued on the FOB basis, but as required by the customs, the goods exported are valued on the FOBbasis, whereas goods imported are on the CIF basis. Therefore, for the purpose of the BOP statistics, the international transport and insurance premiums aretaken out from the value of imported goods and included in the trade inservices; and third, the data on net export of goods in merchanting which arenot included in the customs statistics are supplemented.

2. Services:includes manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others,maintenance and repair services n.i.e, transport, travel,construction, insurance and pension services, financial services, charges forthe use of intellectual property, telecommunications, computer and information services, other business services, personal, cultural and recreational services, and government goods and services n.i.e. The credit side recordsservices supplied, while the debit side records services received.

2.1 Manufacturing services on physical owned by others: processor only provides processing, assembly, packaging and other services and charges service fee from the owner, while the ownership of the goods isnot transferred between the owner and the processor. The credit side recordsthe manufacturing services supplied by the Chinese residents on physical inputs owned by non-residents, and vice versa for debitside.

2.2 Maintenance and repair services: referto the maintenance and repair services supplied by residents to non-residentsor vice versa on goods and equipment (such as vessel, aircraft, and other transportation facility) owned by the receiving party. The credit side recordsthe maintenance and repair services supplied by the Chinese residents tonon-residents, andvice versa for debit side.

2.3 Transport:refers to the process of transporting people and goods from one place toanother, and the relevant supporting and auxiliary services, as well as postaland delivery services. The credit side records the international transport,postal and delivery services supplied by residents to non-residents, and vice versa for debitside.

2.4 Travel:refers to goods consumed and services purchased by travelers in various economies as non-residents. The credit side records the goods and servicesprovided by the Chinese residents to non-residents who have stayed in China forless than one year, as well as non-residents studying abroad and seeking medical treatment for indefinite period of stay. The debit side records thegoods and services purchased by the Chinese residents when traveling, studyingor seeking medical services abroad from non-residents.

2.5 Construction services:refer to the establishment, renovation, maintenance or expansion of fixedassets in the form of buildings, land improvement, roads, bridges and dams andother engineering buildings of engineering nature, relevant installation,assembly, painting, pipeline construction, demolition and project management,as well as site preparation, measurement and blasting and other specialservices. The credit side records the construction services provided by theChinese residents outside the economic territory. The debit side records theconstruction services received by the Chinese residents in the Chinese economicterritory from non-residents.

2.6 Insuranceand pension services: refers to various insurance services and commission to agents related with insurancetransaction. The credit side records the life insurance and annuity, non-lifeinsurance, reinsurance, standardized guarantee services and relevant supportingservices supplied by the Chinese residents to non-residents, and vice versa for debitside.

2.7 Financialservices: refer to financial intermediation and supporting services, excluding those covered by insurance and pensionservices. The credit side records the financial intermediation and supporting services supplied by the Chinese residents to non-residents, and vice versa for debit side.

2.8 Charges for the use of intellectual property:refer to licensed use of intangible, non-productive / non-financialassets and exclusive rights between residents and non-residents and thelicensed use of existing original works or prototypes. The credit side recordsthe intellectual property-related services supplied by the Chinese residents tonon-residents, andvice versa for debit side.

 2.9 Telecommunications, computer andinformation services: refer to communications services between residents and non-residents and transactions ofservices related to computer data and news, excluding commercial services delivered via telephone, computer and Internet. The credit side records the telecommunications, computer and information services supplied by residents tonon-residents, andvice versa for debit side.

2.10 Other business services: refer to other types of services between residents and non-residents, including researchand development services, professional and management consulting services,technical and trade-related services. The credit side records the otherbusiness services supplied by the Chinese residents to non-residents, and vice versa fordebit side.

2.11 Personal,cultural and recreational services: referto transactions of personal, cultural and recreational services between residents and non-residents, including audiovisual and related services (films,radio, television programs and music recordings) and other personal, culturaland recreational services (health, education, etc.). The credit side records the related services supplied by the Chinese residents to non-residents, and vice versa for debitside.

2.12 Governmentgoods and services n.i.e: refer tovarious goods and services provided and purchased by governments andinternational organizations not included in other categories of goods and services. The credit side records the goods and services not included elsewhere and supplied by the Chinese residents to non-residents, and vice versa for debit side.