China's June exports up 1.3%, imports down 2.3%

BEIJING - China's exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 1.3 percent year on year in June, while imports went down 2.3 percent, customs data showed on Wednesday.

That led to a monthly trade surplus of 311.2 billion yuan ($46.4 billion), 12.8 percent more than a year before but narrowing slightly from that in May, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Foreign trade in the first half of the year was 3.3 percent lower than a year earlier at 11.13 trillion yuan, with exports down 2.1 percent and imports down 4.7 percent.

Trade surplus for the first six months widened 5.9 percent from one year earlier to 1.67 trillion yuan.

GAC spokesperson Huang Songping said that according to some leading indicators, China's exports may face "relatively big downward pressure" in the third quarter as global demand looks set to remain sluggish.

Exports to the European Union, China's biggest trade partner, climbed 1.3 percent year on year in the first half, GAC data showed.

In the same period, exports to the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, declined 4.6 percent and exports to ASEAN, its third-largest trade partner, fell 2.9 percent.