China is Ireland’s largest trading partner in Asia
By: Qiuyi Wang
Tags: Import, Export, Ireland, China

Qiuyi Wang

Photo: VCG

China has become Ireland’s fifth-largest trading partner in the world and Asia’s largest trading partner.

According to the data from the Central Statistics Office between January and September 2020, the United Kingdom was Ireland’s largest source of imports, with imports exceeding 17 billion euros. The United States and France are Ireland’s second and third largest import partners, and imports were 9.3 billion euros and 5.6 billion euros. Imports from China are about one-third that of the United Kingdom and one-half that of the United States. However, China is Ireland’s fifth-largest source of imports after France and Germany, with imports exceeding 4.2 billion euros, more than most EU countries.

In terms of exports, from January to September 2020, the United States is Ireland’s largest export market, with exports in nine months exceeding €38 billion. The second-largest export partner was Belgium, with €13 billion of exports. China is Ireland’s fifth-largest export partner, ranked after Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with exports over 7.3 billion euros in nine months. Japan is Ireland’s tenth largest export market and the second-largest export market in Asia, with exports of 2.1 billion euros.

The latest data released by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland show that China has become Ireland’s fifth-largest trading partner in the world and Asia’s largest trading partner.

Since 2000, the top four countries of Ireland’s import sources are the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France. The trade exchanges between China and Ireland have also continued to deepen and gradually occupy an essential position.

From 2000 to 2019, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany are Ireland’s most important export markets. Except for the United States, Japan, China, and Ireland, the central exporting countries are all European union member states. Japan and China are Ireland’s largest export markets in Asia. Ireland’s exports to China are increasing. In 2019, China was already Ireland’s fifth-largest export partner. China is the most important export market in Asia。

Ireland is located on the island of Ireland off the northwest coast of the European continent and is a member of the European Union. China is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, the world’s second-largest economy, GDP, second only behind the United States.

China is now the EU’s second-largest trading partner behind the United States, and the EU is China’s biggest trading partner. Ireland and China established bilateral diplomatic relations for the first time after signing the “ Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations “ on June 22, 1979. This milestone opened the gate for trades, commerce, politics, education, and tourism between the two countries. Both countries have achieved tremendous economic value growth. 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland. The bilateral trade volume between China and Ireland has increased thousands of times from the millions of dollars where the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979.

Eoin O’Leary, Ireland’s ambassador to China，said that although the relationship between the two countries may be complicated; however, the business between the two countries is booming. He also said that the trade volume between Ireland and China has more than doubled in the past five years, and Ireland is one of the few countries with a trade surplus with China.

The chart below shows the imports and exports of all traded goods between Ireland and China from 2000 to 2019 and the trade balance (i.e. exports minus imports) over the same period. Between 2000 and 2019, the value of Irish goods imported into China increased from 784 million euros to 8.929 billion euros. Exports increased from 1.559 billion euros to 5.235 billion euros. Before 2016, Ireland’s imports from China were more generous than exports to China, and Ireland was in a trade deficit. Ireland generated a trade surplus with China's surplus after 2016，which has been maintained until 2019. 2019 is the highest level of trade import and export between China and Ireland on record.

The Sino-US trade war since 2018 has had some impact on the trade between China and Ireland. Ireland imported 5.4 billion euros of goods from China in 2018, an increase of 19% from the previous year. Imports in 2019 were 5.235 billion euros, a decrease of 3.59% from 2018. By contrast, Irish exports to China did not decrease in 2019, but increased by 63%, from 5.4 billion euros in 2018 to 8.9 billion euros.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread worldwide in 2020, causing massive disasters and impacts. The trade between Ireland and China has also been affected by the pandemic. In terms of imports, Ireland’s imports from China in February and March 2020 decreased by 13% and 4.17% from the same period last year. In terms of exports, however, has little impact and maintains growth.

What Goods do China and Ireland trade on a Cross-Border Basis?

Ireland’s main imports from China are industrial and consumer goods, machinery and equipment products, and footwear and clothing. In 2019, 29.79% of imported footwear in Ireland came from China, 29.47% of imported furniture and parts thereof came from China, and 48% of imported leather, leather manufactures came from China.

Ireland’s primary export commodities to China are machinery and equipment, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, chemicals, meat and meat products, scientific instruments, optical instruments and watches, dairy products and bird eggs, and so on. Electrical machinery, appliances et al. accounted for 64.97% of Ireland’s total exports, 20.69% of Office machines and automatic data processing equipment were exported to China, and 42.74% of Hides, skins and fur skins, raw were exported to China.

On March 8, 2017, the Irish government released a new national economic and trade strategy “Ireland Connected: Trading and Investment in a Dynamic World.” The latest version of the national economic and trade system emphasizes that in a multilateral global political and economic environment, the vitality of the Irish economy not only depends on deepening the existing market but also needs to open up new markets. The EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation puts an EU-China Investment Agreement as the core of the long-term EU-China bilateral relationship. All these will help China and Ireland continue to strengthen bilateral economic and trade communication, and the bilateral trade relationship between China and Ireland is expected to be further deepened.