Goods traded between China and the world’s Portuguese-speaking countries reached a total value of US$81.8 billion in the period from January to May 2023, according to data from China Customs cited by Forum Macau.
The sum represents an almost 2 percent decrease year-on-year, the organisation said.
The lusophone nations sold goods worth US$52.4 billion to China in the first five months of 2023 – a decrease of 5.4 percent year-on-year – while China’s merchandise exports to those countries reached US$29.3 billion in the same period, up 5.5 percent year-on-year.
Brazil, Angola and Portugal continued to be China’s main Portuguese-speaking trade partners during the period, with trade values of US$ 66.2 billion, US$8.9 billion and US$3.5 billion respectively.
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Meanwhile, the total value of merchandise traded in the month of May between the parties reached US$20.8 billion, a decrease of nearly 0.2 percent from the prior-year period.
The value of China’s merchandise imports from Portuguese-speaking countries in the month reached US$14.7 billion, up nearly 4 percent year-to-year, according to Chinese official data.
China sold goods to those countries worth US$6 billion in May, a decrease of nearly 9 percent compared with the previous year.