In the January-August period of the current year, China's total external trade value amounted to $2.70431 trillion, increasing by 8.3 percent year on year, according to the figures released by China's General Administration of Customs.
In particular, China's total export value in the given period was $1.42926 trillion, increasing by 9.2 percent year on year, while the country's total import value was $1.27505 trillion, up 7.3 percent compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, China's trade surplus in the first eight months of the current year totaled $154.21 billion, up 28.2 percent year on year.
In the January-August period of this year, the total bilateral trade values between China and the US and between China and ASEAN countries increased by 6.6 percent and 12.5 percent respectively, both year on year. However, the total bilateral trade values in the given period between China and the EU and between China and Japan witnessed 1.1 percent and 8.5 percent decreases on year-on-year basis respectively.
In the first eight months of this year, China's export value of mechanical and electrical products amounted to $817.76 billion, up 9.3 percent year on year, accounting for 57.2 percent of China's total export value. Meanwhile, in the first eight months of the current year China imported 530 million mt of iron ore, up eight percent year on year.