MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China’s trade with BRICS associates surged 45.8% in the first quarter

India and Brazil are China’s 9th and 10th trade partners

China's top customs authority announced Friday that trade with the other four BRICS nations surged by 45.8% to reach 59.9 billion US dollars in the first quarter of this year.

The first-quarter foreign trade growth between China and the other four nations of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was 16.3% higher than China's average foreign trade growth during the period, China's General Administration of Customs said in a statement on its website.

During the first three months, China's imports from the other BRICS countries reached 33.05 billion US dollars, up 57.2% year on year. Exports to those countries hit 26.85 billion USD up 33.8%.

China's Q1 trade deficit with the other four nations reached 6.2 billion US dollars, up more than five times the amount from the same period last year.

In March alone, China's imports from BRICS rose 48.8% to reach 11.93 billion USD while exports grew 48.5% to hit 9.93 billion USD, creating 2 billion USD in deficit.

During the first quarter, China's bilateral trade with each of the other four nations exceeded 10 billion USD, with India and Brazil being China's 9th and 10th largest trading partner.

Q1 bilateral trade between China and India rose 25.2% to 17.63 billion USD. With Brazil trade surged 58.9% to 16.11 billion USD, while with Russia it rose 33.5% to 15.99 billion USD. Bilateral trade between China and South Africa increased more than one fold to 10.16 billion USD.