Trade between China and the European Union (EU) reached 35.6 billion EUR (49.4 billion USD) in July, helping China overtake the US as the EU's largest trade partner.

The overall value of China-EU trade in July exceeded that of the EU and the US by 800 million EUR, accounting for 13.4 percent of the region's total imports and exports, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported, citing the latest statistics from Eurostat.

However, China-EU bilateral trade shrank for a second consecutive month in July, falling 0.8 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, China remained the EU's second largest export market, importing 11.7 billion EUR worth of goods in July, up 12.3 percent year-on-year.

The EU imported 23.9 billion EUR in Chinese goods, down 6.2 percent from the previous year. But China still held the top spot as the region's import source, making up 17.4 percent of the EU's total imports.

The EU reported a trade deficit of 12.2 billion EUR with China in July./.