Abstract

The proposal of the “Belt and Road Initiative” provides an important strategic opportunity for China's foreign trade development. The strengthening of economic and trade cooperation between China and other countries in the world, especially the countries along the  Belt and Road, will directly affect the changes in the scale of China's import trade.

After the reform and opening up, China's foreign trade has achieved rapid development, the scale of trade has been expanding, and China's dominant influence in the process of regional economic cooperation has been continuously improved. This is the inevitable result of the rapid development of China's economy. At present, China has an important influence in global trade. The trade rules advocated by China have promoted the perfection of the world trade rules system.

In terms of scale, in 2017, China’s total imports reached US$184 billion, while the average annual import volume of China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” exceeded US$650 billion, accounting for about one-third of the total annual imports.

From a structural point of view, China's import trade has an important position, with imports accounting for more than 79% of the total. In the same period, China has established service trade with more than 200 countries and regions, continues to advance cooperation with the service trade along the “Belt and Road” countries, and the scale of service trade imports continues to grow.