According to a statement released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in the first half of 2009 the value of European Union member states' (EU-27) exports to
China fell to €37 billion, compared with €39 billion in the first half of 2008, while imports decreased to €103 billion from 112 billion. As a result, the EU-27 trade deficit with
China dropped from €73 billion in the first half of 2008 to €65 billion in the same period of 2009.
The fall in EU-27 trade with
China recorded between the first halves of 2008 and 2009 was less steep than the general downward trend in the EU-27's total external trade, leading to an increase in
China's share in the EU-27's total external trade in goods in the first half of 2009 to more than seven percent of exports and 17 percent of imports, compared with six percent and 14 percent respectively in the first half of 2008.
China is the EU-27's second most important
trading partner after the US. It should be noted that between 2000 and 2008 the EU-27's trade in goods with
China had more than tripled in value, while
China's share in the EU-27's total external trade in goods doubled over the same period.
Nearly 60 percent of the EU-27's exports to
China in the first half of 2009 consisted of machinery and vehicles and one fifth consisted of other manufactured articles. The EU-27's main exports to
China in the period in question included aircraft and motor cars, while its main imports included computers and parts, mobile phones and video games.