The newly-enlarged European Union has overtaken Japan as China's biggest trade partner during the first five months of this year, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said Friday.

But Japan remains China's biggest source of imports and the United States the country's No.1 overseas market, according to the figures released Friday by the administration.

Two-way trade with the EU reached 65.72 billion US dollars during the period, up 35.9 percent year-on-year, according to Customs figures. The figure represents 15.5 percent of the country's overall foreign trade volume of 423.84 billion US dollars for the five months.

Trade between China and Japan totaled 64.1 billion US dollars during the five months, up 27.2 percent. Japan remains China's biggest source of imports.

The United States, which is still the biggest overseas market for China, follows Japan as China's third biggest trade partner with bilateral trade standing at 62.36 billion US dollars, up 34.4 percent.

China's trade with the Republic of Korea, Canada and Australia, also major trade partners with China, grew by 48.4 percent, 47.6 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively, the Customs figures show.