China’s foreign trade of goods decreased 4.9 percent year on year in the first five months, the General Administration of Customs said.
Of the total 11.54 trillion trade volume is 6.2 trillion yuan (about 880 billion U.S. dollars) in export, down 4.7 percent year-on-year, while import decreased 5.2 percent to 5.34 trillion yuan (about 750 billion U.S. dollars).
In May, China’s total foreign trade volume was 2.47 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.9 percent, of which, exports were 1.46 trillion yuan (about 210 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 1.4 percent, while imports fell 12.7 percent to 1.01 trillion yuan (about 140 billion U.S. dollars).
From January to May this year, total foreign trade value of private enterprises continued to increase to 5.11 trillion yuan (about 720 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 1.8 percent, accounting for 44.3 percent of China’s total foreign trade value.
In May, export of electronic products of computers, home appliances, and mobile phones increased by 47.6 percent, 9.1 percent, and 3.7 percent, respectively, indicating increased demand for overseas home office and online education and entertainment during the epidemic.
The official data also showed that during the five months, China’s trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached 1.7 trillion yuan (about 240 billion U.S. dollars), up 4.2 percent year-on-year. ASEAN was China’s largest trading partner.
During the same period, China’s trade with the European Union (EU) decreased 4.4 percent to 1.61 trillion yuan (about 230 billion U.S. dollars), and dropped 9.8 percent to 1.29 trillion yuan (about 180 billion U.S. dollars) with the U.S.
In addition, China’s trade with countries along the Belt and Road reached 3.43 trillion yuan (480 billion U.S. dollars), of which trade with Thailand, Poland and Hungary increased by 8.1 percent, 6.9 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.