In spite of numerous anti-dumping tariffs imposed on Chinese-made goods, according to customs statistics China’s bilateral trade with its three major trading partners, the EU, the USA and Japan, continued to rise steadily during the first five months of this year (January to May).

The statistics showed that Sino-EU trade increased 29% to reach $129.87 billion, cementing the EU’s position as China’s largest trading partner, whilst Sino-US bilateral trade increased 18.2% to $115.17 billion, followed by a 15.5% rise in Sino-Japanese trade to $91.24 billion. ASEAN remained China’s fourth largest trading partner at $75.29 billion, an increase of 27.5% year-on-year.