Containers are loaded on barges at a port in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang Province on June 16, 2022.  Photo: Courtesy of Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group

 
Trade between China and BRICS countries stood at 1.31 trillion yuan ($196 billion) from January to May, surging 12.1 percent year-on-year, data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Tuesday.

The 12.1-percent growth was 3.8 percentage points higher than China's overall trade growth during the same period. In the first five months, China's exports to BRICS countries came in at 656 billion yuan, up 18.1 percent year-on-year, while imports from BRICS countries were 651.7 billion yuan, rising 6.6 percent year-on-year, according to GAC.

BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In terms of countries, bilateral trade grew 26.5 percent between China and Russia, 7.3 percent between China and Brazil, 10 percent between China and India, while declining 5 percent between China and South Africa.

Mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products accounted for 69.7 percent of the total value of China's exports to other BRICS countries; while energy, agricultural products, metals and minerals accounted for 76.3 percent of the total value of China's imports from other BRICS countries, demonstrating strong complementarity between China and other BRICS members.

As economic and trade cooperation among BRICS countries deepens and becomes more solid, China's trade with other BRICS countries is expected to continue to build on last year's positive momentum, GAC said.

In 2021, trade between China and other BRICS countries reached $490.42 billion, up 39.2 percent year-on-year.

China will host the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing on June 23, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Global Times