China becomes the European Union's largest trading partner
View of the port of Qingdao on the Yellow Sea in China (illustrative image).
Reuters
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2 min
This is a first: last year, China became the European Union's biggest trading partner.
The Middle Empire thus supplants the United States, now only the second trading partner of their historic ally.
China has overtaken Washington in large part thanks to the Covid-19 crisis.
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European Union (EU) imports and exports to and from China increased last year compared to the previous year.
Chinese exports have benefited from the strong demand for medical products - masks for example - and from the strong demand also for electronic products, teleworking and social distancing oblige.
► To read also: Coronavirus: surgical masks, assets of Chinese diplomacy
At the same time, China's faster rebound has boosted imports.
At the end of the year, the Chinese even consumed more than at the end of 2019. This drove up European sales in automobiles and luxury products in particular.
But these Chinese imports have increased less than exports.
As a result, the EU's trade deficit vis-à-vis Beijing worsened further, reaching some 180 billion euros.
On the other hand, Europe and the United States have become more mired in the economic crisis.
European imports tumbled 13% while its exports fell 8%.
According to Eurostat, trade between the United States and the EU has therefore reached only 555 billion euros, against 586 billion of trade between the European Union and China.
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