May 9, 2012

China's Q1 agricultural product export, import rise 24.1%

The agricultural product export and import of China amounted to US$40.34 billion in the first quarter of 2012, 24.1% more than the previous year.

Export hit US$14.47 billion, advancing 5.6% from a year ago; import, US$25.87 billion, up 29.5%. Trade deficit amounted to US$11.4 billion, expanding by 81.5% from a year earlier.

The country imported 3.84 million tonnes of grain valued at US$1.3 billion in the period, surging 499.9% and 379.9% from the comparable period of 2011. It exported 209,000 tonnes of grain, dipping 12.9% from a year earlier, with export value inching up 1% to US$160 million.

Cotton import leaped 75.5% year on year to 1.619 million tonnes in the first three months, and import value jumped 42.2% to US$3.69 billion. In the meantime, the country imported 499,000 tonnes of sugar worth US$310 million, rocketing 529.4% and 484.1% from the corresponding period of 2011.