China News Agency, Nursultan, September 24, Tashkent News: According to data recently released by the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, from January to August this year, Uzbek’s foreign trade volume was 24.5 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 12.7%.

　　At present, Uzbekistan maintains trade relations with more than 160 countries and regions.

Statistics show that Uzbekistan’s exports in the first eight months of this year were US$11.6 billion, down 4.1% year-on-year. The main export commodities were gold and industrial products.

Among them, gold exports amounted to US$5.8 billion, an increase of 47.2% year-on-year, accounting for half of the total exports from January to August.

　　Compared with the export value, Uzbekistan's import value from January to August fell by a large margin.

Statistics show that Uzbekistan's imports from January to August were US$12.9 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 19.1%. The main imported commodities were machinery and equipment, vehicles, industrial products and chemicals.

　　From a country perspective, China still maintains its status as Uzbekistan's largest trading partner.

The bilateral trade volume between China and Uzbekistan from January to August was approximately US$4.029 billion, accounting for 16.4% of Uzbek’s total foreign trade.

It is worth noting that Uzbek media analysis pointed out that electric vehicles have become a new growth point for China’s exports to Uzbekistan.

Since the beginning of this year, Uzbekistan has imported 73 electric vehicles, 50 of which are from China.

　　However, compared with the same period last year, the trade volume between China and Ukraine fell by 18.9%.

Among them, Uzbekistan's imports from China were about 2.839 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 12.1%; Uzbekistan's exports to China were 1.19 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 31.5%.

　　In addition, Uzbekistan’s main trading partners are Russia (the ratio of bilateral trade to foreign trade is 14.6%), Kazakhstan (7.2%), South Korea (5.9%), Turkey (5%), Kyrgyzstan (2.3%), Germany (2%).

　　In mid-September, the Asian Development Bank predicted that Uzbekistan’s GDP will fall by 0.5% this year and will return to a growth rate of 6.5% in 2021.

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