The first trade partner of the European Union, overtaking the US for the first time in 2020, became China, causing a more rapid rebound of the economy affected by the Kovid-19 epidemic than its Western allies.

During the past year, the EU has $ 586 billion (adding exports and imports) by China, compared to $ 555 billion for the United States, according to data released on Monday by the European Institute of Statistics.

“During the year 2020, China was the main partner of the European Union,” Eurostat said in a statement.

If the European Union was already China’s first trading partner since 2004 – it had overtaken Japan – this is the first time the reverse is so true, that is to say that China traces the states — United Vis— A-Vis Europe.

According to Eurostat, this result is due to an increase in European imports from China (+ 5.6% in 2020 compared to 2019) as well as European exports to China (+ 2.2%).

At the same time, trade with the United States registered a significant decline for both imports (-13.2%) and exports (-8.2%).

After suffering from the Kovid-19 epidemic during the first quarter, the Chinese economy recovered strongly and consumption also exceeded its level a year earlier, driving European sales, particularly in automotive and luxury goods.

Europe’s exports have benefited from strong demand for medical devices and electronic products.

The European Union has seen its trade deficit with China worsen. It went to -164.7 billion euros from 2019 to -181 billion. At the same time, the surplus with the United States remained stable at around 151 billion euros.

The United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the European Union, is now its third largest trading partner behind China and the United States.

However, European exports to that country fell 13.2% last year, and imports 13.9%.

Overall, the European Union recorded a rapidly growing trade surplus in the rest of the world in 2020, amounting to 217.3 billion euros as against 191.5 billion in 2019.

This figure is even higher for 19 countries in the euro area: a surplus of EUR 234.5 billion last year, compared to 221 billion the previous year.