On July 13, 2023, the General Administration of Customs of China released the import and export data for goods in the first half of 2023. According to customs statistics, in the first half of this year, the export volume of ceramic products reached 8.611 million tons, an increase of 2.1% compared to last year, with an export value of 89.86 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.3% compared to last year.

Looking at the single month of June, the export volume of ceramic products was 1.729 million tons, an increase of 5.6% compared to the previous month, with an export value of 15.13 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.3% compared to the previous month. It is worth noting that the export volume of ceramic products has been increasing since February, but the export value experienced consecutive declines in May and June. Among them, the most significant decline occurred in May, where despite a 109,000-ton increase in export volume, the export value decreased by 3.73 billion yuan.

Overall, China's total import and export value of goods in the first half of the year reached 20.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.1% compared to the previous year. Among them, exports amounted to 11.46 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, while imports amounted to 8.64 trillion yuan, a slight year-on-year decrease of 0.1%.

In the first half of the year, China's trade with its largest trading partner, ASEAN, reached 3.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.4% year-on-year, accounting for 15.3% of the total trade volume. Trade with the European Union amounted to 2.75 trillion yuan, a 1.9% increase, accounting for 13.7%. Trade with the United States amounted to 2.25 trillion yuan, a decrease of 8.4%, accounting for 11.2%. During the same period, China's trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 9.8%, surpassing the overall growth rate by 7.7 percentage points, accounting for 34.3%, with a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percentage points. Trade with other RCEP members increased by 1.5%.