China is headed for a new record in foreign trade this year with its imports and exports adding up to well over $3 trillion till November.
In the first 11 months its foreign trade expanded 23.6% to $3.31 trillion, far exceeding the full-year figure of $2.97 trillion in 2010, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) data.
However, amid weak external demand and a slowing domestic economy, the year-on-year growth trade in November was four percentage points lower than that in October, GAC said.
November registered 17.6% rise in trade, year-on-year, at about $334 billion. Imports rose 22.1% to $159.94 billion, while exports increased 13.8% from a year earlier to $174.46 billion.
Trade surplus during the month narrowed 34.9% from a year earlier to reach $14.52 billion.
In the first 11 months, China's trade surplus shrank by 18.2% year-on-year to $138.4 billion, which came mainly from the country's processing trade, Xinhua reported.
On breakdown, general trade increased 30.9% year-on-year to $1.75 trillion from January to November, while processing trade rose $13.4% to $1.19 trillion.
The GAC data showed China's trade with emerging economies greatly outpaced average growth in the January-November period. Its trade with Australia, Brazil, Russia and South Africa rose 33.8%, 36.7%, 44% and 82.5%, respectiely.
The European Union remained China's top trading partner in the first 11 months een though demand from EU was affected by the festering debt crisis, with bilateral trade amounting to $517.11 billion, up 19.2%.
China's trade with the United States, the country's second-largest trading partner, increased 16.9% from the year-ago period to $405.43 billion.
A free trade area arrangement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) continued to lift the China-ASEAN trade by 25.1% to $328.96 billion from January to November.
During the period, China reported a trade deficit of $21.94 billion with Asean, 53.5% more than year-ago.
China's trade with Japan, the fourth-largest trading partner, amounted to $312 billion in the first 11 months, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%.