Zhejiang commodities exported to the Czech Republic are mainly garments and textile，electric wires and cables，etc.，whereas imported commodities from the Czech Republic are primarily mechanical and electronic products，raw materials as well as resource-based products.

In regards to the composition of exported commodities，the top 10 Zhejiang exports to the Czech Republic in 2018 are shown in Figure 1-2，with apparel and garment accessories，electric wires and cables as the principal commodities.Of all the Zhejiang exports to the Czech Republic，apparel and garment accessories were the dominant products，amounting to USD 86.77 million，contributing to 10.91％ of total exports in 2018.If textile yarn，fabrics and made-up articles（at the fourth place of the top 10）are counted together with apparel and garment accessories，this category will exceed USD 100 million，accounting for nearly 15％ in exports.The categories in the top 10 were electric wires and cables，electric motors and generators，valued about USD 30 million，much less than that of textile and garment.

At present，the concentration rate of major commodities exported from Zhejiang to the Czech Republic is lower than the overall level of Zhejiang over the same period.In 2018，Zhejiang's top 10 commodity exports to the Czech Republic accounted for 36.41％ of Zhejiang's total exports to the Czech Republic，5％ lower than Zhejiang's top 10 commodity exports in Zhejiang's total exports over the whole year.The exported commodities from Zhejiang to the Czech Republic with a higher rate of concentration than the overall level in Zhejiang include apparel and garment accessories，electric wires and cables，steel or copper standard fasteners and auto parts.

Figure 1-2　Major Zhejiang Commodities Exported to the Czech Republic in 2018

（Source：Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province）

In regards to the composition of imported commodities，the top 10 Zhejiang imports from the Czech Republic in 2018 are shown in Figure 1-3，with scrap metal，machine tools for metal processing and so on as the main products.The top 10 Zhejiang imports from the Czech Republic accounted for 45.03％ of Zhejiang's total imports from the Czech Republic over the same period.The commodity concentration rate was higher than that of the main exported products，and it was also higher than the overall concentration rate of the main imports in Zhejiang over the same period.To a certain extent，it reflected Zhejiang's main demanding areas of commodities from the Czech Republic.The total import volumes of machine tools for metal processing，automatic control instruments for metrological testing and analysis，printing and binding machinery and other mechanical and electrical products reached USD 31.4805 million，accounting for 23.02％ of Zhejiang's total imports from the Czech Republic.The total import volumes of raw materials and resource-based products such as scrap metal，plastics in primary forms and logs reached USD 25.4269 million，accounting for 18.60％ of Zhejiang's total imports from the Czech Republic in 2018.

Figure 1-3　Major Commodities Imported from the Czech Republic to Zhejiang in 2018　(www.daowen.com)

（Source：Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province）

At present，there is still an apparent import-export imbalance between Zhejiang and the Czech Republic.To address the imbalance of the two countries，it is necessary to understand the following facts：

1）In terms of commodity composition，neither Zhejiang nor the Czech Republic is rich in resources.Therefore，the imports and exports of resource-based commodities cannot be increased in a large volume，and such commodities shall not become the main ones for bilateral trade.Instead，the priority should be focused on the industry intermediate goods and manufactured goods，and there is still much potential to be exploited to expand industrial cooperation and promote bilateral trade of industrial goods.Increasing imports of Czech consumer goods is one of the main approaches to reduce the trade deficit.However，it is of great necessity to fix the two bottlenecks：the severe homogeneous competition of consumer goods imported from Central and Eastern Europe and the supply capacity shortage of the Czech Republic's products.It is difficult to improve the situation significantly in a short term，and it still takes a long way to cultivate the domestic market.

2）“Made in Zhejiang” has a strong competitive advantage in the global market while “Made in the Czech Republic” is more integrated into the European industrial chain centred on Germany.Therefore，the long-term strategy to achieve the sustainable growth of bilateral trade lies in promoting and encouraging Czech enterprises to carry out industrial chain cooperation with Zhejiang enterprises.This will provide a fair playing field with each country's technological，manufacturing and market advantages as well as jointly enhance the competitiveness of the industrial chain.

3）Strengthening the awareness of cooperation with the three parties can be conducive to pushing forward Zhejiang-Czech cooperation into a new phase，especially in taking advantage of the Czech Republic's location-specific and industrial chain advantages in Europe，building the cooperation channels between Zhejiang，the Czech Republic and other countries in western and northern Europe，jointly developing the international market，and creating a pattern of multilateral win-win cooperation.