Exports from Portuguese-speaking countries to China have had their best start to the year ever, reaching $58.4 billion (€54.3 billion) in the first five months of 2024.
This is the highest value for the period between January and May since the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macau Forum) began to present this type of data to the Customs Services of China in 2013.
Toward Exports increased by 11.2% in annual terms mainly due to the largest Portuguese-speaking supplier to the Chinese market, Brazil, whose sales grew by 12.8% to $48.8 billion (€45.4 billion), a new high for the first five months of the year.
Portuguese exports to China reach a new high in 2023
Angola’s merchandise sales to China rose 4.7% to $7.16 billion (€6.67 billion), while Portugal’s exports rose 10.7% to $1.24 billion (€1.16 billion).
The data, released on Tuesday, show that most Portuguese-speaking countries exported more to China, including Mozambique, whose sales rose 19.6% to $641.6 million (597.2 million euros).
Cape Verde (+21.1%) and Guinea-Bissau (+1,173.3%) also saw their exports to China increase in the first five months of 2024, although neither country sold more than six thousand dollars (5,500 euros) worth of goods.
Equatorial Guinea’s exports to the Chinese market fell by 6.9% to $517.3 million (€481.5 million), while sales to East Timor (-37.2%) and Sao Tome and Principe (-89%) fell compared to the period between January and May 2023.
In the opposite direction, the Portuguese-speaking countries imported goods worth 34 billion dollars (31.7 billion euros) from China, an annual increase of 16.1% and a new record for the first five months of the year.
Brazil was China’s largest trading partner in the Portuguese-speaking bloc, with imports reaching $28.5 billion (€26.5 billion), followed by Portugal, which bought goods from China worth $2.55 billion (€2.37 billion).
In total, the Trade between Portuguese-speaking countries and China reached $92.4 billion. (€86 billion) between January and May, 12.9% more than in the same period in 2023 and a new high for the first five months of the year.
China recorded a trade deficit of 24.3 billion dollars (22.6 billion euros) with the Portuguese-speaking bloc in the period between January and May this year.
In April, Forum Macau held its sixth ministerial conference, during which the organization’s new action plan until 2027 was approved.
According to the document, China and Portuguese-speaking countries want to explore new areas of cooperation, such as the digital economy and the blue economy, as well as strengthen collaboration to respond to climate change.
Source: Observadora
