A port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province Photo: VCG

China's imports and exports reached 27.08 trillion yuan ($3.7 trillion) during the first eight months of 2023, down 0.1 percent year-on-year, but still at a relatively high level, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday.

Between January and August, the country's exports grew by 0.8 percent year-on-year to reach 15.47 trillion yuan, while imports were down 1.3 percent year-on-year to 11.61 trillion yuan, latest customs data showed.

In August, the country's foreign trade remained largely stable, with imports and exports down 2.5 percent year-on-year to 3.59 trillion yuan, but growing 3.9 percent on a monthly basis, GAC said.

During the first eight months, the country's general trade increased by 1.7 percent year-on-year to reach 17.72 trillion yuan, accounting for 65.4 percent of overall trade volume, 1.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade up 1.6 percent year-on-year to hit a total of 4.11 trillion yuan. The EU was the country's second-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade down 1.5 percent year-on-year to reach 3.68 trillion yuan. The US was China's third-largest trading partner in the first eight months, with bilateral trade down 8.7 percent year-on-year to 3.05 trillion yuan.

China's imports from the EU and the US rose by 4.3 percent and 1.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

China's exports of machinery products increased by 3.6 percent year-on-year in the first eight months to reach 8.97 trillion yuan, accounting for 58 percent of the country's total exports. Of them, auto vehicle exports surged 104.4 percent year-on-year to reach 442.7 billion yuan, according to the GAC.