Beijing posts 7.5% rise in foreign trade

BEIJING - Beijing saw its foreign trade increase by 7.5 percent year-on-year to 1.15 trillion yuan ($167 billion) in the first five months this year, local customs said Wednesday.

From January to May, its imports grew 8.9 percent year-on-year to 955.56 billion yuan while exports rose 1.4 percent to 198.94 billion yuan, Beijing Customs said.

The city saw trade with the European Union rise 22.1 percent year-on-year to 156.53 billion yuan from January to May, trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations go down 2.1 percent to 103.06 billion yuan and trade with Australia increase 61.7 percent to 84.94 billion yuan.

During the period, Beijing's trade with the United States fell 32.6 percent year-on-year to 72.33 billion yuan.

In terms of major imported products, the city imported 176.58 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products in the first five months, down 5.4 percent year-on-year, and 72.77 billion yuan worth of high-tech products, down 1.6 percent.

As for exports, Beijing exported 79.22 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products from January to May, down 4.8 percent year-on-year, and 14.44 billion yuan worth of mobile phones, up 73.8 percent.