EU-27 trade with China and Russia in 2007 - Issue number 9/2009 - Products Statistics in Focus

In 2007 China was the main partner of the EU in terms of imports (16% of the total value of EU imports) and Russia was third (10%). China and Russia played a lesser role in EU exports but remained nevertheless very important trade partners, with individual shares of 6% and 7% respectively in the total EU exports. Exports to Russia have grown faster than those to China between 2005 and 2007 (+57% for Russia; +38% for China). Looking at the breakdown of EU trade, Germany appeared as the main partner for both China and Russia by a large margin. The EU trade balance with China and Russia has been persistently negative over the last years. The EU trade deficit with China has doubled between 2004 (EUR 80 billion) and 2007 (EUR 160 billion), whereas that with Russia decreased in 2007 compared to 2006 (-20%). The trade balances of the individual Member States with China were all negative in 2007 while six countries registered a trade surplus with Russia, although some of these concerned very low trade volumes. EU exports to both countries mainly consisted of machinery and vehicles (more than half of the total EU exports to both countries). Noticeable differences were noted for imports: the EU imported mainly telecommunication and office machines from China (share of 28%), whereas petroleum products were by far the most imported products from Russia (58%).