China's foreign trade up 11.1% in first 11 months

BEIJING - China's goods trade rose 11.1 percent year on year to 27.88 trillion yuan (about $4 trillion) in the first 11 months this year, customs data showed Saturday.

The value has already exceeded the total foreign trade registered last year, said the General Administration of Customs (GAC) in an online statement.

Exports rose 8.2 percent year on year to 14.92 trillion yuan in the January-November period while imports grew 14.6 percent to 12.96 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.96 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 21.1 percent, the GAC said.

In the first 11 months, exports and imports of products under the general trade category surged 13.9 percent year on year to 16.13 trillion yuan, accounting for 57.9 percent of the total foreign trade, 1.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

China's trade with the European Union rose 8.7 percent to 4.1 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.7 percent of China's total trade volume. Trade with the United States increased 7.2 percent to 3.83 trillion yuan, or 13.7 percent of the total.

Trade with the ASEAN countries reached 3.55 trillion yuan, up 12.9 percent, accounting for 12.7 percent of the total. Trade with Japan rose 6.1 percent to 1.98 trillion yuan, or 7.1 percent of the total.

Trade with countries along the Belt and Road registered faster-than-average growth, with the trade volume standing at 7.62 trillion yuan, up 14.4 percent year on year.

Chinese private enterprises played a bigger role in trade by contributing 39.6 percent to total trade, up 1.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year.