The Structure of China's Imports: A New Framework

Using the elbow function method to determine the number of classification groups of goods and applying the K-means algorithm to classify technical goods, this paper constructs a scientific classification framework of commodity structure and then measures the changes in China's import commodity structure. It is found, first, that from 2000 to 2012, the import commodity structure in China underwent structural change. Shares of non-agricultural primary products and high-technology products increased significantly, whereas shares of low-medium-technology products and medium-high-technology products declined. Second, from 2000 to 2006, the overall technology level of China's imports declined, but then increased from 2007 to 2012. Therefore, the Chinese Government should increase the share of high-technology and extra-high-technology products in total imports to stimulate structural transformation in manufacturing industries to make full use of foreign advanced technology and to prevent stepping into a low-end import commodity structure.