China's foreign trade fell 9,4 percent year-on-year in February to 1,81 trillion yuan ($269.355 billion, €240.507 billion), according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.
Exports fell 16,6 percent year-on-year to 922.760 billion yuan (137.321 billion U.S. dollars, 122.614 billion euros), while imports also fell, albeit much more slightly, by 0,3 percent to 888.300 billion yuan (132.192 billion U.S. dollars, 118.035 billion euros).
The trade surplus thus fell by 84% to 34.460 billion yuan (5.128 billion dollars, 4.580 billion euros).
However, the statement in which the Administration published these data tries to offer the positive side of the figures, highlighting that foreign trade increased by 0,7% year-on-year if the figures for January and February are combined - in the first month of 2019 it advanced by 8,7%.
The report also attributed the poor February result to seasonal factors resulting from the Lunar New Year - the main holiday of the year in China - and added that, if these effects were subtracted from the calculation, foreign trade would have grown by 3,9%.
Trade with the United States fell by 16,1% year-on-year. even higher than in January (10,1%), and stood at 524.970 billion yuan (78.113 billion dollars, 69.771 billion euros).
Although this figure once again highlights the effects of the trade war between the two countries - even though the latest information suggests that the negotiating teams have come closer together - the United States, as in January, accounted for 11,6% of China's foreign trade.
Exports to the United States fell by 9,9%, while imports fell by 32,2%.
This caused the trade surplus with the United States - the reduction of which is one of the main demands of the government led by Donald Trump - to increase by 3,9% to 290.090 billion yuan (43.164 billion dollars, 38.551 billion euros).
Meanwhile, trade with the European Union (EU) increased by 8,9 percent and accounted for 16,2 percent of China's total overseas trade, and trade with countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew by 1,9 percent and accounted for 12,8 percent of the total.
Source: EFE
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