In the first half of the current year, China's total external trade value amounted to $1.99769 trillion, increasing by 8.6 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 $1.05282 trillion, increasing by 10.4 percent year on year, while the country's total import value was $944.87 billion, up 6.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, China's trade surplus in the first six months of the current year totaled $107.95 billion, up 58.5 percent year on year.
In the January-June period of this year, the total bilateral trade value between China and the EU amounted to $259.21 billion, decreasing by 3.1 percent year on year. The total bilateral trade value between China and the US in the given period amounted to $244.01 billion, increasing by 5.6 percent year on year, with the overall trade value between China and ASEAN countries amounting to $210.56 billion, up 12.2 percent year on year.
In June, China imported 62.3 million mt of iron ore and iron ore concentrate, up 6.8 percent or 3.99 million mt year on year but down 9.1 percent or 6.26 million mt month on month. In the first six months of this year, China imported 384.29 million mt of iron ore, up 5.1 percent or 18.48 million mt year on year.
In June, the average iron ore import price in China was $126.8/mt, down 8.8 percent or $12.3/mt year on year and down 4.6 percent or $6.1/mt compared to May. In the first half, the average iron ore import price in China was $133.2/mt, down 4.6 percent year on year.
