China's Import and Export Value Up 12.1% in May 2013

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--The import and export value of China reached $345.11 billion in May 2013, an increase of 0.4% from May 2012, or a drop of 3% compared with the previous month, according to an announcement from the General Customs Administration of China (GCAC) on June 08, 2013. The export value reached $182.77 billion, an increase of 1% from the same month last year, or a drop of 2.3% compared with the previous month; the import value reached $162.34 billion, a drop of 0.3% from May 2012, or a drop of 3.9% compared with the previous month; and the surplus for the month reached $20.43 billion.

The GCAC said in its announcement that the large drop in the growth of import and export value in May is mainly due to that the rapid growth in hedge trades with Hong Kong in the previous month, as well as factors such as domestic economic slowdown, weak external demand, the rising exchange rate of renminbi, and the worsening trade environment.

From January to May 2013, the accumulative import and export value of China reached $1.68 trillion, an increase of 10.9% from the same period last year. The export value reached $878.56 billion, an increase of 13.5%; the import value reached $797.69 billion, an increase of 8.2%; and the accumulative surplus reached $80.87 billion.

In May 2013, the general trade in China reached $190.28 billion, an increase of 3.1% from May 2012; the export value reached $93.74 billion, up 2.5%, and the import value reached $96.54 billion, up 3.6%. From January to May 2013, the accumulative general trade in China reached $858.59 billion, an increase of 7.1% from the same period last year; the export value reached $416.05 billion, up 12%, and the import value reached $442.54 billion, up 2.9%.

From January to May 2013, the European Union remained the first trading partner with China, but the growth in bilateral trade value dropped 2.8% to $214.44 billion, while the trade value with the U.S. and ASEAN was up 6.9% and 14.8% from the same period last year to $202.91 billion and $176.42 billion, respectively. The bilateral trade value with Japan fell 8.9% to $122.7 billion. In the same period, the growth of bilateral trade value with South Africa was up 34.4% to $31.48 billion.

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