China foreign trade decline expands in October

Containers pile up at Waigaoqiao Port in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China's foreign trade dropped 9 percent year-on-year to 2.06 trillion yuan ($324.62 billion) in October, decreasing at a rate larger than the 8.8-percent contraction in September, official data showed on Sunday.

This was the eighth consecutive monthly decline in foreign trade in the world's second largest economy since March this year.

Exports dropped 3.6 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan and imports plunged 16 percent to 833.14 billion yuan. The trade surplus surged 40.2 percent to 393.22 billion yuan, the General Administration of Customs said.

In the first ten months, foreign trade dropped 8.1 percent year-on-year to 19.93 trillion yuan. They were separated into 11.46 trillion yuan for exports, down 2 percent; and 8.47 trillion yuan for imports, down 15.2 percent. The trade surplus expanded by 75.3 percent to 2.99 trillion yuan.

Related: China foreign trade decline narrows in September

BEIJING - China's foreign trade dropped 8.8 percent year-on-year in September to 2.22 trillion yuan ($352 billion), less severe than the 9.7-percent contraction in August, official data showed on Tuesday.

Exports dropped 1.1 percent to 1.3 trillion yuan and imports decreased 17.7 percent to 924 billion yuan. The trade surplus totaled 376.2 billion yuan, up 96.1 percent, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.

For the first three quarters, foreign trade dropped 7.9 percent year-on-year to 17.87 trillion yuan, with exports down 1.8 percent to 10.24 trillion yuan and imports down 15.1 percent to 7.63 trillion yuan. The trade surplus surged by 82.1 percent to 2.61 trillion yuan.

GAC spokesperson Huang Songping attributed the drops to the sluggish global economy, high costs and slumping commodity prices.

China's foreign trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative hit 4.5 trillion yuan, about 25 percent of the total foreign trade in the first three quarters.

China reported 2.59 trillion yuan of trade with the European Union, its largest trade partner, in the first three quarters, 2.54 trillion yuan of trade with the United States, the second-largest trade partner, and 2.11 trillion yuan with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the third-largest trade partner.

Exports to emerging markets have been rising. Foreign trade grew 5.8 percent with the ASEAN, 8.7 percent with India, 1.3 percent with Latin America and 6.1 percent with Africa.