Beijing's foreign trade decline narrows

BEIJING -- Beijing has seen rebounding foreign trade since July, customs data showed Thursday.

The year-on-year decline of Beijing's foreign trade narrowed to 17.1 percent between July and October from 30 percent in the second quarter of this year, Beijing Customs said.

In October alone, Beijing's imports and exports exceeded 184 billion yuan ($27.6 billion), down 17.6 percent from the same period last year. The decrease was 20.3 percent lower than that in May, with the lowest trade volume so far this year.

The European Union was Beijing's major trade partner in October, with the volume of imports and exports surging 30 percent year-on-year to 28.59 billion yuan, accounting for 15.5 percent of Beijing's total.

Foreign-invested enterprises maintained strong performance in October. Their trade volume jumped 26.8 percent year-on-year to 46.17 billion yuan, accounting for 25.1 percent of Beijing's total.

In October, Beijing's automobile imports went up 71 percent, and export of mobile phones and textile and clothing increased 33.6 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively.