China notched up a trade surplus of US$21.17 billion in the first four months this year, according to the statistics published by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) .

According to the figures, the country's trade volume hit US$414.9 billion in the first four months. Exports increased to US$218 billion while imports hit US$196.87 billion.

The surplus in this period shows a sharp contrast with a deficit of about US$10.8 billion from one year earlier.

Statistics show that the European Union remained China's biggest trading partner with a bilateral trade of 65.2 billion dollars from January to April, followed by the United States and Japan with trade volume at 61.28 billion dollars and 57.54 billion dollars respectively.

Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai remained the country's top three exporters.

Crude oil imports grew fairly fast in April, the customs administration said, partly suggesting that China's energy crunch has yet to be eased amid rapid economic expansion.

Oil imports decreased a year-on-year 1.7 percent in the first quarter of the year, but the trend reversed in April, leading to a rise of 4.4 percent in the first four months.

Also in the first four months, import of coal hit 7.37 million tons and iron ore 87.49 million tons, registering a respective growth of 49.6 percent and 28 percent.

Machinery and electronic products are the bellwether among Chinese exports. In the January-April period, such exports reached 119.7 billion dollars, a year-on-year increase of 34 percent.

Exports of clothes and related accessories also rose 15.6 percent to 19.27 billion dollars.

By People's Daily Online