China's total trade in goods surged 29.2 percent year-on-year to 8.47 trillion yuan ($1.29 trillion dollars) in the first quarter of 2021 with exports reaching 4.61 trillion yuan, up 38.7 percent, and imports 3.86 trillion yuan, up 19.3 percent.

 

Despite the first quarter of last year providing a low base because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the country's foreign trade still increased 20.5 percent from the same period of 2019.

 

The improvement of the global manufacturing sector created a favorable external environment and set the stage for the marked growth of China's trade. And the World Trade Organization recently raised its projection for the growth in the global trade of goods from 7.2 percent to 8 percent. Likewise, the International Monetary Fund has raised its forecast for global economic growth from 5.5 percent to 6 percent - 8.4 percent for China - highlighting the growing confidence in the prospects for a post-pandemic recovery.

 

But it should be noted that despite all the main indexes regarding the country's industrial production, investment and consumption having stayed in a moderate recovery range since January, laying a solid foundation for sustained growth of foreign trade, the fast rise in the prices of staple commodities - the prices of iron ore, copper ore and soybean rose 53.5 percent, 28 percent and 11.1 percent in the first quarter - has boosted the surge in China's total export-import volume.

 

And that many migrant workers chose to stay in the cities where they work during the Spring Festival holiday also contributed to the growth of foreign trade, as many export enterprises did not have to suspend production during the festival.

 

That being said, the rosy trade figures point to challenges as well as opportunities.

 

Therefore, China must maintain its strategic focus on the stability, continuity and prudence of its macroeconomic and financial policies to direct more liquidity to flow to the real economy and innovation-oriented industries, while guarding against imported inflation, so as to effectively manage internal and external uncertainties.