BEIJING — China’s exports went up 6.5 percent year on year to 11.86 trillion yuan (about $1.72 trillion) in the first three quarters of 2018, General Administration of Customs (GAC) data showed on Oct 12.

The trade surplus was narrowed by 28.3 percent to 1.44 trillion yuan in the first three quarters.

Exports of electro-mechanical products increased by 7.8 percent to 6.91 trillion yuan, taking up 58.3 percent of China’s total export value, said GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen.

China has taken measures to readjust its export structure, with exports of automobiles and machine tools expanding 16.3 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.

The country has made great achievements in the green development of foreign trade, reducing the exports of energy-intensive, high-polluting and resource-intensive products by 7.6 percent, Li said.

China has been witnessing a higher level of opening-up, as companies have moved to diversify their export market and seek more trading partners, Li added.

Trade between China and other Belt and Road countries grew 3.3 percentage points faster than the growth rate of China’s overall foreign trade.

Trade with Africa and Latin America grew at a rate of 3.9 percentage points and 3.8 percentage points higher, respectively, than overall trade growth.

To improve the business environment and facilitate cross-border trade at customs, China will reduce customs charges, enhance the efficiency of customs supervision and accelerate the process of customs clearance, Li said.

China will also reinforce cooperation with Belt and Road countries on customs clearance, accelerate the development of China-Europe rail services and make efforts to promote international logistics, he added.

Besides these measures, China has also decided to improve its export tax rebate policy to reduce the business burden and bolster foreign trade, according to members of a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Oct 8.

The current seven tax brackets will be cut to five, and some rates will be raised according to international common practice, said a statement released after the conference.

Effective from Nov 1, the 15-percent bracket and part of the 13-percent bracket will be lifted to 16 percent. The 9-percent notch will be adjusted to 10 percent or 13 percent, and the 5-percent tier to 6 or 10 percent.

However, high-energy consumption and seriously polluting goods as well as those involved in industrial capacity cuts will see export rebate rates unchanged.

The government expects the policy to facilitate supply-side structural reform, ease burdens on the real economy and stabilize foreign trade growth amid complicated global circumstances.