In the context of global financial crisis exerting adverse effects on China's foreign trade, the bilateral trade between China and Cyprus maintained a good momentum of growth during the first quarter of 2009.

According to the statistics of Chinese Customs, the total amount of import and export trade between China and Cyprus reached 297 million US Dollars in the first quarter with a year-on-year increase of 65.2%. In a breakdown, the export to Cyprus came to 295 million US Dollars rising 65.2%, the import from it was 2 million US Dollars up 57.5%. In contrast, the aggregate volume of China's foreign trade in the first quarter dropped by 24.9% compared with the same period of previous year, in which the export fell 19.7% and the import declined 30.9%. Meanwhile, trade between China and European Union decreased 19.8% to 75.19 billion US Dollars, with the export to EU dwindling 22.1% to 49.87 billion US Dollars and the import from EU down 15.1% to 25.33 billion US Dollars.

In the first quarter, China achieved a favorable trade balance to Cyprus of 292 million US Dollars with a year-on-year growth of 65%, 19.9 percentage points higher than last year's.

Source: Ministry of Commerce Website