LONDON — China dethroned the U.S. last year to become Europe’s top trading partner for the first time, data from the European statistics office has shown.
European Union exports to China grew by 2.2% last year and imports rose by 5.6%. In comparison, exports to the U.S. dropped by 8.2% and imports fell by 13.2%. The latest figures, released Monday by Eurostat, showed that China now has an even bigger role in how European economies perform.
“The reason behind it is clearly the fact that China/Asia is the only region going through a nice V-shaped recovery,” ING Germany economist Carsten Brzeski told CNBC on Tuesday.
To read the full article by CNBC, please click here.