Hanoi, (VNA) - The Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) became China's biggest trading partner in the first halfof this year, accounting for 14.7 percent of the nation's total foreign tradevolume.
China's trade withASEAN stood at 2.09 trillion CNY (about 299 billion USD) in the first six months, up 5.6 percent year on year. Exports to ASEANrose 3.4 percent to 1.15 trillion CNY, while imports climbed 8.5 percent to 938.57 billion CNY, data from the GeneralAdministration of Customs (GAC) showed on July 14.
According to GAC spokesman Li Kuiwen, the expansion was partlybuoyed by growing farm produce trade with ASEAN members under the upgradedprotocol of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which came into effect in October2019. The farm produce trade between the two sides grew 13.2 percent in H1.
During the sameperiod, China's trade with Vietnam jumped 18.1 percent, pushing the bilateraltrade volume to the top place among ASEAN members, while trade with Thailand rose 9.2 percent./.
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