German imports from China up 35 pct in September

BERLIN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- German imports from China in September rose by 35 percent year-on-year, reaching 16.8 billion euros (17.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.

At the same time, exports to China went up 7 percent to 9.0 billion euros, according to Destatis. China has now been Germany's top trading partner for six consecutive years.

Total exports of Europe's largest economy in September were up 20.2 percent year-on-year, growing to 142.1 billion euros. Meanwhile, the country's imports increased 31.3 percent to 134 billion euros.

As a result, Germany's once sizable trade surplus continued its long-term decline, dropping to 8.1 billion euros in September. This was only half as much as a year ago, according to Destatis.

"The deterioration of the terms of trade due to the energy price crisis is increasingly reflected in the current account surplus," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said in a report at the end of October.

According to the IfW Kiel Institute, global trade in October fell slightly from the previous month. China, however, recorded a strong increase in exports, up 10.1 percent month-on-month. This presented a "positive outlier in global trade," stressed IfW expert Vincent Stamer.

Sentiment among German exporters has recently improved. According to the ifo Institute, the indicator for export expectations rose from minus 6 to minus 5.3 points in October.

"However, the situation for exporters remains difficult, and the high level of uncertainty is causing a reluctance among international customers to place new orders," Clemens Fuest, president of the ifo Institute, warned last month. (1 euro = 1.03 U.S. dollars)