China's share in European countries’ imports: the source matters !
The importance of China in the imports of European countries varies significantly from one source to another, because of methodological differences in recording the country of origin of imports.
By Pierre Cotterlaz
PostWhat is China's share of French imports in 2019? 9.5% according to the United Nations Statistics Division's Comtrade data, but only 5.5% in the IMF's DoTS statistics.
DoTS attributes the geographical origin of imports to the country of entry into the EU, while Comtrade uses the country where the last substantial transformation of the product took place.
Thus, in the case of an electric vehicle produced mainly in China and exported to France via the port of Rotterdam, DoTS counts a China -> Netherlands flow and a Netherlands -> France flow, while Comtrade counts a China -> France flow.
To find out more, read Why Origin Matters in Trade Data.
DoTS attributes the geographical origin of imports to the country of entry into the EU, while Comtrade uses the country where the last substantial transformation of the product took place.
Thus, in the case of an electric vehicle produced mainly in China and exported to France via the port of Rotterdam, DoTS counts a China -> Netherlands flow and a Netherlands -> France flow, while Comtrade counts a China -> France flow.
To find out more, read Why Origin Matters in Trade Data.
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