Jan 10, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na

The value of China’s foreign trade in 2012 increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year, said Zheng Yuesheng (郑跃声), a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office on the morning of Jan 10.

Mr. Zheng noted that in the context of the deepening of the European debt crisis and an obvious deceleration in the pace of the global economic recovery, international demand remained subdued in 2012. Zheng also noted that China's domestic economy also faced greater downward pressures last year. Despite these circumstances, China's foreign trade still managed to increase by 6.2 percent compared to 2011 but was still short of the target 10 percent growth set at the beginning of the year.

Mr. Zheng said that China's import and export performance in 2012 could be considered as the best among the world's major economies.

In the first 10 months of 2012, the combined value of Japan's imports and exports had only increased by 1.1 percent on the same period last year. Similar trade data from the EU revealed a decline of 2.1 percent and an increase of 4.2 percent in the U.S..

Links and Sources
China News Service:海关总署：2012年进出口增6.2% 未实现10%目标
Customs: 2012年外贸进出口38667.6亿美元 12月份进、出口双创新高