China’s imports decline 13.2%, trade surplus hits $562 billion

China’s foreign trade surplus widened to 3.69 trillion yuan (562 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, an increase of 56.7 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday.

Customs data also showed that the country’s  monthly trade surplus widened to 382.1 billion yuan (57.9 billion U.S. dollars) in December from 343.1 billion yuan in November.

Exports fell 1.8 percent year on year to 14.14 trillion yuan in 2015, while imports declined 13.2 percent to 10.45 trillion yuan in 2015, according to the General Administration of Customs data.

Last year, the country’s total export and import values decreased 7 percent year on year to 24.59 trillion yuan.