(Yicai Global) Aug. 8 -- The value of China’s international trade jumped 16.6 percent last month from a year earlier after trade with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership surged.

Imports and exports totaled CNY3.8 trillion (USD562 billion) in July, data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed yesterday. Imports rose 7.4 percent to CNY1.6 trillion, and exports soared 23.9 percent to CNY2.2 trillion.

China’s trade with the RCEP, which groups the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, surged 18.8 percent from a year ago to CNY1.2 trillion, driving the total value of imports and exports up 5.6 points, China Central Television cited Li Kuiwen, head of the GACC’s statistics department, as saying.

Since it came into force on Jan. 1 this year, the RCEP has furthered the economic interconnection, trade and investment partnerships in the region, creating a new economic driver, Li added.

From January to July, China’s trade totaled CNY23.6 trillion (USD3.5 trillion), up 10.4 percent. ASEAN was China’s largest trading partner, gaining 13.2 percent to CNY3.5 trillion. The European Union, the United States, and South Korea were second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Chinese trade authorities issued 56,800 certificates of origin to prove that USD2.7 billion worth of goods were produced in the RCEP region in the first half, expecting to cut the tariffs by over USD40 million, Yicai Global learned from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The RCEP is the first multilateral trade between China, Japan, and South Korea. Since coming into effect, it has encouraged South Korean firms to invest more in China, has led to an increase in intermediate goods trade, and has boosted China-South Korea trade, Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of economics research at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told Yicai Global.

South Korea has certain advantages in the fields of semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells, Liu added, noting that the investment and trade of goods from China and South Korea in emerging industries is relatively high, and the added value of such products is also high. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione