After posting trade deficit in February for the first time in a year, China returned to trade surplus, which was $5.35 billion in March.
China had a trade deficit of $31.5 billion in February, its first shortfall in a year and the biggest since 1989.
Thus, it has managed to improve its trade figures in the first quarter of this year with a modest surplus of USD 670 million.
China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) said today that the country’s foreign trade in March rose 7.1 per cent year—on—year to reach USD 325.97 billion with a trade surplus of USD 5.35 billion.
Exports amounted to $165.66 billion in March, up 8.9 per cent year-on-year, while imports reached $160.31 billion, the GAC data showed.
For the first quarter, China’s imports and exports expanded 7.3 per cent from a year ago to reach USD 859.37 billion, with its foreign trade with major trading partners growing in single-digits, according to the GAC.
Despite the lingering debt crisis, the European Union remained China’s largest trading partner in the first quarter, but China-EU bilateral trade growth slowed to 2.6 per cent year-on-year to reach $126.87 billion.
In the first three months, China’s trade with the US, its second-largest trade partner increased 9.3 per cent year-on-year to $106.77 billion, according to the customs data, state run Xinhua reported.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held its position as China’s third-largest trade partner, with China-ASEAN bilateral trade amounting to $86.78 billion up 9.2 per cent year-on-year.
Japan, which is still struggling to recover from last year’s devastating tsunami and massive earthquake, posted a year-on-year decline of 1.6 per cent in bilateral trade with China in the first quarter, or $79.44 billion.
However, China’s trade with Russia, which joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, showed a rapid growth of 33 per cent year-on-year to hit $21.49 billion.
Meanwhile, China’s trade with Brazil, a major exporter of iron ore and other raw materials, gained 11.5 per cent from the previous year to hit $18 billion in the first quarter.