Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) stated that the trade volume between China and European Union is expected to top US $200 billion in 2005.
Bilateral trade in the first 11 months of 2005 reached $196.78 billion, about 15.3 percent of China's total foreign trade, a year-on-year growth of 23.6 percent, said the ministry, citing statistics from China Customs.
European Union maintained China's largest trade partner in 2005 and China was European Union's second largest trade partner.
The ministry said that in 2005 China exported more high-tech products to the European market than before, and European Union took the place of the United States to become China's top exporting market for mechanical and electronic products.
Soaring trade also stimulated investment and technology introduction. The ministry said European Union has been China's largest technology supplier and the fourth largest investor in China.
Statistics from the ministry show that by the end of October 2005, China had introduced 20,925 technologies, with a contracted value totaling $87.1 billion.
At that time, European companies set up 22,076 businesses in China, bringing the contracted investment volume to $84.7 billion, with actual investment hitting $46.7 billion.
The high-tech sector, including the maglev trains, Air Bus planes and nuclear power stations, have been the key fields attracting European investment, said the ministry.
