ASEAN has overtaken the U.S. as China’s second-largest trade partner

ASEAN becomes China’s second-largest trade partner

Amid the trade war with the U.S., ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has overtaken the U.S. as China’s second-largest trade partner, with Chinese imports and exports to ASEAN up 14.1 percent to reach 4.43 trillion yuan ($642.5 billion) in 2019, according to the data released by General Administration of Customs (GACC) revealed Tuesday.

European Union remained China’s biggest trading partner, with an 8-percent year-on-year growth to 4.86 trillion yuan in bilateral trade.

China saw foreign trade increase 3.4 percent to exceed 31 trillion yuan last year and is expected to remain the world’s largest trader in goods.

This is due to closer economic and trade cooperation with ASEAN and Chinese industrial upgrading, said Peng Bo, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

China’s imports and exports to the U.S. totaled 3.73 trillion yuan, down 10.7 percent in 2019, but imports from the U.S. saw a recovery in growth from November to December, with the figure up 9.1 percent year-on-year to reach 78.83 billion yuan in December.

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