China’s bilateral trade with the US has declined slightly in the last eight months, while expanding with the EU and Japan, state-run media reported Monday.
The country’s bilateral trade declined by 0.4% to 2.42 trillion yuan ($354 billion), a 12.1% share of China’s foreign trade, the Global Times daily reported.
CHINA’S FOREIGN TRADE REACHED 421.69 BILLION DOLLARS
Accounting for 12.1% of China’s total foreign trade, the US was its third-largest trade partner during this period.
Beijing reportedly saw exports growing by 11.6% year-on-year, with the decline in exports to the US coming amid increased tensions with Washington over China’s treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority, as well as a new security law imposed on Hong Kong.
According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained the China’s biggest trading partner, with a trade value of 2.93 trillion yuan ($428.8 billion) in the first eight months, up 7% year-on-year and accounting for 14.6% of China’s total foreign trade.
Meanwhile, China’s trade with the EU racked up 2.81 trillion yuan ($411.3 billion) — up 1.4% and accounting for 14% of China’s total foreign trade — the figures showed. The country’s foreign trade reached 2.88 trillion yuan ($421.69 billion) in August, rising by 6% year-on-year.