Japan remains China's 3rd largest trade partner

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-17 14:37

BEIJING -- Sino-Japanese trade amounted to $246.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2008, a growth of 15.2 percent over the same period of 2007, the General Administration of Customs said on Saturday.

The figure accounted for 10.4 percent of China's total externa trade for the Jan.-Nov. period of 2008, continuing to rank Japan third among China's trade partners.

The total trade volume included $106.1 billion in exports to Japan, up 14.9 percent, and 140.1 billion dollars in imports, up 15.3 percent.

Of the total trade, 70.3 percent, or $173.1 billion, was recorded by foreign-funded businesses, up 13.4 percent.

Exports of machines and electronics were $50.66 billion worth, up 15.8 percent, accounting for 47.8 percent of China's total sales to Japan.

Farm produce exports, hit by a series of product safety scandals since 2007, were down 8.3 percent to $6.92 billion, as against a 1.4- percent growth for the Jan.-Nov. period of 2007.