China's foreign trade down 11 pct in first 2 months

APD NEWS

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China's foreign trade of goods fell 11 percent year on year in the first two months of this year to 592 billion U.S. dollars amid disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, official data showed Saturday.

Exports dipped 17.2 percent year on year to 292.5 billion U.S. dollars during the period, while imports decreased 4 percent to 299.5 billion dollars, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The trade deficit stood at 7.09 billion U.S. dollars, while the trade surplus was 41.5 billion U.S. dollars in the same period last year.

Bucking the downward trend, China's trade with ASEAN countries increased 2 percent, while the combined trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road standing at 1.31 trillion yuan (about 188.93 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.8 percent year on year.

During the Jan-Feb period, China's trade with the European Union, the United States and Japan decreased 14.2 percent, 19.6 percent and 15.3 percent respectively.