France's trade deficit with China in the first half of 2012 was 13.4 billion euros ($16.46 billion), down 1 percent from a year earlier, and 38.5 percent of France's total trade deficit, the French government said.

China remained France's second-largest source of imports in the first half but the biggest contributor to the French trade deficit.

Chinese exports to France increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year to 21.15 billion euros in the first half, while Chinese imports from France surged by 19 percent year-on-year to 7.71 billion euros in the same period, according to data from the French customs.

But China's General Administration of Customs said that Chinese exports to France dropped by 5.3 percent year-on-year to $13.56 billion in the first half of this year while its imports from France rose by 9.7 percent to $11.61 billion, yielding a trade surplus of just $1.95 billion.