China's foreign trade shrinks for ninth consecutive month in July
By Victor Wang
Shanghai. August 11. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's foreign trade shrunk on an annual basis for the ninth consecutive month to $200.21 billion in July, according to General Administration of Customs statistics released on Aug. 11.
China's export value in July tumbled by 23 percent on an annual basis to $105.42 billion, while import value fell by 14.9 percent year-on-year to $94.79 billion.
Over the first seven months of 2009, China's export value sank by 22 percent year-on-year to $627.10 billion, while import value plummeted by 23.6 percent to $519.61 billion. The country's trade surplus over the seven-month period declined by 12.4 percent year-on-year to $107.49 billion.
Nevertheless, China's Ministry of Commerce said that the country's foreign trade contraction has showed signs of narrowing since March with increasing monthly trade figures.
With bilateral trade of $192.73 billion, the European Union remained China's largest trade partner over the first seven months of this year. The United States and Japan were China's second and third largest trade partners over the same period with bilateral trade standing at $158.68 billion and $119.90 billion, respectively.