18. 02. 2021. 00:00   >>  15:22 0

EUROSTAT

China-EU trade booms despite headwinds

Many companies in the European Union (EU) and China were pleased to see EU-China bilateral trade boom in 2020 -- a year that was marred by lockdowns and industrial disruptions due to the restrictive measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, said on Monday that China became the EU's main trading partner last year, overtaking the United States.

 

The bloc's imports from China in 2020 grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year to 383.5 billion euros (462 billion U.S. dollars), and exports increased by 2.2 percent to 202.5 billion euros. Meanwhile, the EU's trade with the U.S. saw a substantial decline both ways, according to Eurostat.

 

Given the overall slump in global trade amid the still raging pandemic, the dynamic growth in China-EU trade can indeed be considered a hard-won victory, which was partially due to the two sides' robust cooperation to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

On Feb. 10, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its quarterly "Global Trade Update" that global trade in 2020 tumbled by about nine percent from a year ago.