This article is compiled by Semiconductor Industry Landscape (ID: ICVIEWS)

China's high-end equipment exports increased by 43.4% in the first three quarters, with IC and automobile exports increasing by 22% and 22.5%, respectively.

According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, China's total import and export volume reached 32.33 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, an increase of 5.3% year-on-year. Specifically, exports amounted to 18.62 trillion yuan, up 6.2%, while imports totaled 13.71 trillion yuan, up 4.1%.

Among them, China's exports of electromechanical products reached 11.03 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, an increase of 8%, accounting for 59.3% of the total export value. Notably, high-end equipment exports grew by 43.4%, while IC, automobile, and household appliance exports increased by 22%, 22.5%, and 15.5%, respectively. Additionally, traditional labor-intensive product exports amounted to 3.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.8%.

In the first three quarters, China's imports of bulk commodities increased steadily. The import volume of bulk commodities increased by 5%, with energy products such as crude oil, natural gas, and coal rising by 4.8% to 901 million tons. Metal ores, including iron and aluminum, increased by 4.9% to 1.138 billion tons. During the same period, imports of ICs and automotive parts increased by 13.5% and 4.6%, respectively, while consumer goods imports exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan.

Wang Lingjun, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, noted that private enterprises have accelerated equipment upgrades and fostered innovation capabilities this year. In the first three quarters, private enterprises imported 203.82 billion yuan worth of various production equipment, an increase of 31%, accounting for 51.6% of China's imports of similar products. Among them, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and high-end machine tools accounted for 67.9% and 43.7% of China's imports of similar products, respectively. This innovation momentum has also translated into export growth, with private enterprises' high-tech product exports rising by 14% in the first three quarters, accounting for 52.7% of China's high-tech product exports, an increase of 4.4 percentage points. In particular, exports of ships, marine engineering equipment, aerospace equipment, and electronic information products increased by 94%, 37.2%, and 17.5%, respectively.

According to the latest research report from DIGITIMES, China's chip import and export trade volume in 2024 benefited from the global end market, including the recovery in demand for smartphones and personal computers, as well as advancements in generative AI, infrastructure construction, and the automotive industry. As a result, chip import and export values grew by 5.2% and 11.4% year-on-year, respectively. However, China's chip trade deficit still stands at $238.35 billion, an increase of 3% from 2023.

Chien Tsung-Hsun, an analyst at DIGITIMES, observed that China's chip import and export values in the first half of 2024 both increased compared to the same period in 2023, indicating a recovery in semiconductor demand both domestically and overseas after being impacted by high inflation. However, looking at the global consumer market, the buying sentiment during the traditional peak season in the second half of 2024 remains conservative, limiting the growth momentum for chip demand.

Chien estimated that China's IC imports in 2024 would amount to approximately $320 billion. Taiwan, with its strengths in downstream wafer fabrication, packaging, and testing, along with South Korea and Malaysia, which specialize in memory and packaging/testing, are China's top three sources of IC imports. Since the US initiated the semiconductor trade war against China in 2019, the share of IC imports from the US has declined year by year, falling below 3% in 2023. China's IC imports are dominated by processors and controllers, accounting for approximately half of the total chip import value. The US's restrictions on high-end processors such as Qualcomm's mobile application processors and NVIDIA's server graphics processing units have further reduced the share of IC imports from the US.

It is estimated that China's chip exports in 2024 will approach $95 billion, the second-highest since the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the initial success of China's independent semiconductor development, particularly in IC exports. Geographically, Asia is the primary export destination, with Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia being China's top four chip export markets, accounting for a combined 70% of China's chip exports. Notably, the share of exports to regions other than these four has been increasing annually, suggesting signs of supply chain shifts. In terms of IC categories, Chinese memory companies have leveraged their price advantages to compete with Korean and American companies, with China's memory exports accounting for nearly half of total IC exports in 2023.

China's semiconductor imports have continued to grow in recent years, fueled by its vast electronic consumer market and semiconductor sales. As the global economy recovers and demand for electronic products rebounds, import volumes are expected to increase further, particularly in the areas of ICs and semiconductor equipment. Meanwhile, China's semiconductor exports are also showing positive trends, benefiting from domestic companies' advancements in technological research and development and production capabilities. The semiconductor industry is driving industrial upgrades and ecosystem optimization to enhance product quality and competitiveness, further promoting import and export development.