On the occasion of the XVI EU-China Summit held on 20 and 21 November, Eurostat published updates on trade and investment between the two partners. Over the past ten years, the international trade in goods between the EU and China was marked by a sharp increase in China's share of total European common market trade. At the same time, the share of European exports to China rose from 4,0% in 2002 to 8,6% in 2012, while the share of imports from China grew even more, from 9,6% to 18,5% in 2010 and then dropped to 16,2% in 2012. As result, the European trade deficit with China, which had reached a peak of 171 billion euros in 2008, it fell to 147 billion in 2012. And despite the data for the first six months of 2013 showing a drop in both flows, even if more significant for imports than for exports, China remains firmly the EU's second most important trading partner after the US.
Among the member countries, Germany (32,4 billion, equal to 45% of EU exports) is by far the largest exporter to the Chinese market in the first six months of 2013, followed by France (7,2bn or 10%) and the United Kingdom (6,3bn or 9%). In turn Germany (with 27,7 billion or 21% of EU imports) is also the main importer, followed by the Netherlands (24,9bn or 19%), the United Kingdom (18,5bn or 14%), France (11,9bn or 9%) and Italy (11,5bn or 9%). in the period considered in all member countries, with the exception of Germany (+4,7 billion) and Finland (+0,5 billion), there are trade deficits in trade with the Chinese partner, particularly in the Netherlands (-20,9 billion), the United Kingdom (-12,2 billion), Italy (-6,7 billion), France and Spain (-4,7 billion for both).
