MOFCOM's spokesperson Gao Feng. Photo: Li Xuanmin/GT

China has replaced US to become Germany's largest export market for the first time in the second quarter (Q2) as a result of the win-win cooperation in accordance with the market principles that has met the market needs of both sides, said Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Thursday.

China's faster recovery from the COVID-19 has made Germany's Q2 exports to China exceed that of the US, data released by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany showed.

From April to June, German exports to China reached nearly 23 billion euros ($27billion) while the exports to the US fell to 20 billion euros. 

The rapid development of Sino-German trade ties benefited not only from the good bilateral relations and complementary economic advantages of the two countries, but also from China's continuous efforts in opening up, Gao Feng, the spokesperson of MOFCOM pointed out on Thursday.

He said that the pattern of Sino-German trade development is the result of win-win cooperation between the companies of the two countries in accordance with the market principles and WTO rules, and has met the needs of both parties.

Since the outbreak of pandemic, China and Germany have carried out active cooperation in medical supplies, strengthened macroeconomic policy coordination and facilitated the cross-border exchange of people and goods, which created favorable conditions for a stable development of Sino-German trade, Gao said.

In June, the scale of trade between Germany and Western countries such as the US and UK has declined whereas the trade with China has gone up against the trend. During the coronavirus pandemic, China has increasingly become an important driving force for the German economy to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic. In terms of transportation, the number China-Europe freight trains have increased 36 percent year-on-year in the first half 2020, a guarantee for Sino-German cargo and epidemic prevention materials transportation.

Germany is China's largest trading partner in the European Union (EU), and China has remained Germany's most important trading partner for four consecutive year. In 2019, the total bilateral trade between China and Germany accounted for one-third of the total trade between China and EU countries.