In 2020, mainland China’s 100 imported consumer products that generated the most spending totaled US$541.6 billion. That dollar amount represents 26.3% of the overall value of all Chinese imported goods ($2.056 trillion).

The 5 most valuable consumer products imported into China during 2020 were cars, phones, soya beans, computers and liquid crystal devices.

The total dollar amount for China’s top 100 imported consumer products declined by -2.8% from 2019 to 2020, compared to a -0.6% drop for all Chinese imported goods for the year.

China’s purchases of imported products–both overall and consumer–actually dropped at a much slower pace than the global average decline of -8.2% from 2019 to 2020 for all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by the People’s Republic of China, 54 increased in total sales from 2019 to 2020 whereas 46 declined.

Changes in Chinese consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

China’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in China spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2021 to 2022 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Soya beans: US$39,528,004,000 (up 11.6%)
Medications: $21,163,267,000 (down -0.1%)
Coal, solid fuels made from coal: $16,385,099,000 (down -13.4%)
Processed petroleum oils: $11,793,688,000 (down -30.9%)
Frozen beef: $9,771,459,000 (up 23.2%)
Crustaceans (including lobsters): $5,908,141,000 (down -15.9%)
Malt extract, food preparations: $5,898,384,000 (up 0.9%)
Palm oil: $4,123,222,000 (up 0.4%)
Miscellaneous fruits (fresh): $4,113,921,000 (up 30.5%)
Whole fish (frozen): $3,925,432,000 (down -20.5%)
Other food preparations: $3,861,920,000 (up 22.7%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $3,733,346,000 (down -1.4%)
Poultry meat: $3,500,983,000 (up 73.9%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk, cream: $3,331,361,000 (up 4.8%)
Red meat offal: $2,763,505,000 (up 38.2%)
Corn: $2,490,317,000 (up 134.6%)
Fuel wood, wood chips, sawdust: $2,259,816,000 (down -5.7%)
Cherries/peaches/nectarines/plums: $1,891,340,000 (up 13.4%)
Barley: $1,879,891,000 (up 20.4%)
Wine $1,827,259,000 (down -25.3%)
Sugar (cane or beet): $1,801,965,000 (up 60.7%)
Sheep or goat meat: $1,744,289,000 (down -6.3%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $1,595,428,000 (up 2.4%)
Miscellaneous nuts: $1,574,950,000 (down -19.7%)
Sun/safflower/cotton-seed oil: $1,565,526,000 (up 70%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $1,527,513,000 (down -6.1%)
Rice: $1,459,294,000 (up 16.4%)
Unsweetened milk/cream: $1,308,781,000 (up 18.8%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $1,192,891,000 (down -5.6%)
Moluscs: $1,184,572,000 (down -24%)
Dried shelled vegetables: $1,070,461,000 (up 33.9%)
Dates/pineapples/mango/avocado: $1,007,635,000 (down -12.9%)
Bananas, plantains: $933,264,000 (down -14.7%)
Groundnuts: $835,617,000 (up 159.8%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $819,623,000 (down -2%)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $810,062,000 (up 46.5%)
Waters with added sugar: $809,585,000 (up 18%)
Manioc roots, artichokes, sweet potatoes: $784,598,000 (up 21.9%)
Perfumes, toilet waters: $747,491,000 (up 34.1%)
Coconut, palm kernel or babassu oil: $728,013,000 (down -9.7%)
Miscellaneous preserved fruits: $726,341,000 (down -7%)

The listed convenience products led China’s most popular import product type ahead of both shopping products and speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

China’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

The following list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in China spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Chinese spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2021 to 2022.

Cars: US$44,923,331,000 (down -4.5%)
Phones: $43,543,983,000 (up 2.3%)
Computers, optical readers: $33,925,166,000 (up 11%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $25,767,461,000 (up 2.2%)
Computer parts, accessories: $19,836,502,000 (up 2.1%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $14,950,718,000 (up 2.3%)
Electrical converters/power units: $11,553,007,000 (down -1.6%)
Printing machinery: $6,399,442,000 (down -14.9%)
Insulated wire/cable: $5,605,398,000 (up 4.2%)
Unrecorded sound media: $5,025,504,000 (up 6.7%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $4,397,523,000 (up 80.2%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $4,395,894,000 (up 23.7%)
Microphones/headphones/amplifiers: $4,103,875,000 (down -12.4%)
Orthopedic appliances: $3,766,930,000 (down -12.7%)
Wrist/pocket watches (regular case): $2,932,325,000 (up 17.9%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $2,787,787,000 (down -1.8%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $2,427,479,000 (up 1.2%)
Footwear (leather): $2,392,015,000 (up 6.1%)
Footwear (textile): $2,273,799,000 (up 8.4%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $2,232,016,000 (up 2%)
Meat, fish or crustacean flours, pellets: $2,210,054,000 (up 0.3%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $2,102,201,000 (down -12.8%)
Lubricant preparations, anti-rust: $1,822,078,000 (down -4.5%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $1,247,710,000 (up 4.7%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $1,245,749,000 (up 373.5%)
Trucks: $1,225,293,000 (up 8.4%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $1,069,195,000 (down -20.7%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $1,051,058,000 (down -3.4%)
Paints, varnishes: $1,034,519,000 (up 12.2%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $1,015,285,000 (down -12.4%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $906,737,000 (up 19.1%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $894,820,000 (down -6.3%)
Other pharmaceutical preparations: $886,588,000 (down -2.4%)
Wrist/pocket watches (precious case): $879,507,000 (up 54.7%)
Hair preparations: $868,462,000 (up 23%)
Rubber tires (new): $854,925,000 (down -3.9%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $854,199,000 (up 35%)
Unused stamps including postage: $833,528,000 (down -9.2%)
Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners: $803,827,000 (down -24.4%)
Models, puzzles, miscellaneous toys: $772,765,000 (up 2.3%)

China’s second-most popular imported product type is shopping products led by cars and technology items.

As a product category, shopping products equaled two-fifths (40) of China’s top 100 imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

China’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among China’s imports that attracted the Asian country’s greatest spending on imported consumer goods during 2022.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2022 compared to 2021.

Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: US$26,400,117,000 (down -6.2%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $17,335,751,000 (up 31%)
Swine meat: $11,881,216,000 (up 163.5%)
Gold (unwrought): $11,416,975,000 (down -74%)
Diamonds (unmounted/unset): $5,944,613,000 (down -24.2%)
Liquid pumps: $4,860,198,000 (down -2.3%)
Electric storage batteries: $4,350,083,000 (down -6.4%)
Jewelry: $3,682,881,000 (up 54.1%)
Temperature-change machines: $2,619,358,000 (down -8.9%)
Potassic fertilizers: $2,171,345,000 (down -20.5%)
Dishwashing, clean/dry/fill machines $1,694,958,000 (up 2.9%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $1,661,992,000 (down -2.2%)
Interchangeable hand/machine tools: $1,387,445,000 (down -20.2%)
Silver (unwrought): $1,366,535,000 (up 28.1%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $1,146,604,000 (up 3.1%)
Electron or proton microscopes: $1,048,448,000 (down -3.7%)
Bovine raw hides and skins: $834,045,000 (down -8.1%)
Magnets including electro-magnets: $821,804,000 (down -1.1%)
Household base metal mountings: $736,681,000 (up 2.3%)

Like the shopping products category, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 76 of Australia’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 24 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into the United States that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Miscellaneous textile items: Up 373.5% ($1.2 billion)
Swine meat: Up 163.5% ($11.9 billion)
Groundnuts: Up 159.8% ($835.6 million)
Corn: Up 134.6% ($2.5 billion)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: Up 80.2% ($4.4 billion)
Poultry meat: Up 73.9% ($3.5 billion)
Sunflower/safflower/cotton-seed oil: Up 70% ($1.6 billion)
Sugar: Up 60.7% ($1.8 billion)
Wrist or pocket watches with precious metal case: Up 54.7% ($879.5 million)
Jewelry: Up 54.1% ($3.7 billion)

Among the above consumer products, 6 are food-related convenience products. With very few exceptions, these are non-durable goods that most consumers use one time.

In contrast, there are 4 shopping products that require a comparatively longer time for consumers to make a buying decision and can be re-used. These are miscellaneous textile items, hot-rolled iron and non-alloy steel items, wrist or pocket watches with precious metal case, and jewelry.

All 4 shopping products are considered durables.

Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

China’s spending on the following 10 items decreased at the greatest pace from 2019 to 2020.

Gold (unwrought): Down -74% ($11.4 billion)
Processed petroleum oils: Down -30.9% ($11.8 billion)
Wine: Down -25.3% ($1.8 billion)
Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners: Down -24.4% ($803.8 million)
Unmounted/unset diamonds: Down -24.2% ($5.9 billion)
Moluscs: Down -24.2% ($1.2 billion)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): Down -20.7% ($1.1 billion)
Whole frozen fish: Down -20.5% ($3.9 billion)
Potassic fertilizers: Down -20.5% ($2.2 billion)
Interchangeable hand/machine tools: Down -20.2% ($1.4 billion)

Four top decliners are non-durable convenience products. These items are processed petroleum oils, wine, moluscs and whole frozen fish.

Also showing total import deteriorations year over year are 4 leading speciality products specifically gold, diamonds, potassic fertilizers and interchangeable hand/machine tools.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target China’s demand for its top 5 consumer import products.

China’s biggest imported consumer product by value is cars. China’s 4 other leading consumer imports are phones, soya beans, computers, and liquid crystal, laser or optical tools.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for China’s imported:

Cars: Germany (30.1% of total), Japan (22.6%), United States (18.9%), Slovakia (11.9%), United Kingdom (8%), Thailand (2.5%), Sweden (1.9%), Austria (1.6%) and Italy (1%).

Phones: Vietnam (38.4% of total), China (31%), South Korea (9.5%), Taiwan (6.4%), Japan (2.9%), Thailand (2.2%), Malaysia (2.1%), Hong Kong (1%) and United States (1%).

Soya beans: Brazil (63% of total), United States (26.9%), Argentina (7.3%) and Uruguay (1.7%).

Computers: Thailand (27% of total), Taiwan (23.2%), China (22.8%), South Korea (9.2%), Malaysia (6.6%), Philippines (3.3%), Singapore (1.5%) and United States (1%).

Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: Taiwan (32.8% of total), South Korea (26%), China (14.6%), Japan (11.5%), Thailand (5.3%), Vietnam (2.8%), Germany (2.4%), United States (1.2%) and Singapore (also 1.2%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: China Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Trading Economics, China Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

World’s Top Exports, China’s Top 10 Imports.