SteelOrbis Shanghai
According to the statistics released by China's General Administration of Customs, China's trade volume for the year 2008 approached $2.56163 trillion in value, up 17.8 percent year on year. Meanwhile, Chinese exports totaled $1.42855 trillion in 2008, up 17.2 percent, while imports totaled $1.13308 trillion, up 18.5 percent year on year. China's total trade surplus last year reached $295.47 billion, up $32.83 billion or 12.5 percent year on year.
China's total trade volume in December amounted to $183.33 billion, down 11.1 percent over the same month in 2007. Exports in December decreased 2.8 percent to $111.16 billion, while imports dropped 21.3 percent year on year to $72.18 billion.
In 2008, the European Union (EU) continued to be China's biggest trading partner, with the trading value between the two sides totaling $425.58 billion, up 19.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the trading volume between China and the US, China's second largest partner, rose 10.5 percent to $333.74 billion. Japan remained China's third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade jumping 13 percent to $266.78 billion in 2008.
Looking at import products, China's 2008 imports of primary products jumped up 49.2 percent to $362.78 billion, accounting for 32 percent of total imports, i.e. up 6.6 percentage points year on year.