China's foreign trade surged by 23.2 percent year on year to reach 522.78 billion US dollars in the first five months, the latest customs statistics show.

Figures from China Customs show that the trade volume included 276.4 billion US dollars in exports and 246.38 billion US dollars in imports, respectively up 33.2 percent and 13.7 percent over the same period last year.

General trade registered 225.48 billion US dollars in the first five months with a year-on-year rise of 21.1 percent. The exports in general trade rose 37.8 percent to 117.48 billion US dollars and imports 7 percent to 108 billion US dollars.

The processing trade reported a rise of 26.3 percent in the period to 248.21 billion US dollars, including 148.84 billion US dollars in exports and 99.37 billion US dollars in imports, up 29.4 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

Customs statistics show that two-way trade between China and the European Union, the United States and Japan, China's top three trade partners, registered big rise.

The EU remained China's largest trade partner in the first five months with a trade volume of 81.84 billion US dollars, up 24.2 percent.

The Sino-US trade volume rose 24.6 percent year on year to 77.7 billion US dollars in the first five months.

The trade volume between China and Japan reached 70.72 billion US dollars, up 10.1 percent year on year.

ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has become China's fourth largest trade partner with the trade volume at 48.56 billion US dollars, a rise of 25.8 percent year on year.

Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai remain the leading places in foreign trade. Guangdong Province registered a trade volume of 150.58 billion US dollars, up 16 percent year on year and making up 28.8 percent of the country's total. Jiangsu and Shanghai reported foreign trade at 84.37 billion US dollars and 71.44 billion US dollars in the first five months, a year-on-year growth of 37.5 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Source: Xinhua