Together, 进 (enter) - 出 (exit) - 口 (port) literally means “enter-exit port,” perfectly describing the activity of goods moving through a nation's borders.
The term 进出口 (jìnchūkǒu) is inseparable from the story of modern China. Following the “Reform and Opening Up” (改革开放, gǎigé kāifàng) policy initiated in the late 1970s, China transformed its economy by embracing global trade. 进出口 became the engine of this transformation. In the West, “import/export” is a standard business term. In China, 进出口 carries the added weight of national development and newfound prosperity. For decades, the growth of 进出口 volume was a primary metric of the nation's success, reported nightly on the news and discussed by everyone from economists to factory workers. Compared to the broader English term “trade,” 进出口 feels more grounded and logistical. It's less about the abstract economic theory of trade and more about the tangible, physical reality of it: the ports buzzing with activity, the endless lines of container ships, and the customs offices stamping documents. It represents the hands-on, industrious nature of China's role as the “world's factory.”
进出口 (jìnchūkǒu) is a formal and standard term used widely in business, government, and economic news.