China-EU trade reached 1.31 trillion yuan ($205 billion) in the first three months, up 10.2 percent from last year, and has seen double digit growth in foreign trade with 14 EU members, Chinese Customs said on Wednesday.

Chinese Customs data released on Wednesday China’s exports to EU totaled 864.93 billion yuan, up 21 percent year-on-year, and imports from EU wasl 447.42 billion yuan, down 6 percent. 

Commenting on the data, Li Kuiwen, spokesperson from the General Administration of Customs said China-EU trade had maintained sound momentum in the first three months. 

In terms of growth rate, China has seen double digit foreign trade growth with 14 EU member states, including Spain and Greece.

In the first quarter, China's import and export volume with Germany reached 355.34 billion yuan, up 3.5 percent from last year, accounting for 27.1 percent of China's overall trade volume with the EU.

China's import and export volume with the Netherlands, France and Italy also exceeded 100 billion yuan.

In breakdown, China's export of mechanical and electrical products to the EU reached 545.62 billion yuan, up 16.6 percent, accounting for 63.1 percent of China's export to the EU. Among these, China's export of new energy products such as electric vehicles, solar cells and lithium-ion batteries has grown by 3.8 times, 1.4 times and 66.2 percent respectively.

As major economies in the world, China and the EU are important trading partners with great development potential and broad prospects for economic and trade cooperation, Li said.

Global Times