China's foreign trade reached a new high in the first half (H1) of this year, with the rising trade volume injecting strong momentum into economic recovery, official data showed Friday.
The volume of goods trade expanded 6.1 percent year on year to 21.17 trillion yuan (about 2.97 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, according to the General Administration of Customs.
Exports rose 6.9 percent to 12.13 trillion yuan (about 1.67 trillion U.S. dollars), while imports climbed 5.2 percent, reaching 9.04 trillion yuan (about 1.24 trillion U.S. dollars). Trade surplus expanded 12 percent to 3.09 trillion yuan (about 425.39 billion U.S. dollars).
The positive trend of foreign trade has been further consolidated, analysts said.
In the second quarter, imports and exports in total gained 7.4 percent compared to a year earlier, also notably higher than the 4.9 percent increase in the first quarter of this year and 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, registering a historical high of over 21 trillion yuan (about 2.89 trillion U.S. dollars) during the same period, said officials.
In the first half of this year, imports and exports of the country's general trade saw an increase of 5.2 percent to 13.76 trillion yuan, accounting for 65 percent of the total foreign trade.
During the same period, the imports and exports of processing trade reached 3.66 trillion yuan, rising 2.1 percent and making up 17.3 percent of the total. In addition, China's imports and exports by bonded logistics was 2.96 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.6 percent.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, remains China's largest trading partner, with the bilateral trade increasing 10.5 percent year on year, followed by the European Union, the United States and South Korea.
China's trade with Belt and Road Initiative countries reached just over 10 trillion yuan, a 7.2 percent increase year on year.
Foreign trade by private enterprises registered 11.64 trillion yuan, climbing 11.2 percent year on year and accounting for 55 percent of China's total foreign trade value, 2.5 percent higher than the proportion reported in the same period one year earlier.
As for exports, China's mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total, of which automatic data processing equipment and its parts, integrated circuits and automobiles all experienced a double-digit growth.
Imports of major commodities such as iron ore, coal and natural gas increased as well.
China's foreign trade reaches new high in H1
