According to the GAC, China's imports of iron ore in 2009 rose 41.6 percent from a year earlier to 630 million tonnes, at an average price of US$79.9 per tonne.

In 2009, the economy imported 200 million tonnes of crude oil, up 13.9 percent from 2008, at an average price of US$438 per tonne.

The country's imports in 2009 stood at US$1.01 trillion, down 11.2 percent from a year earlier, said the GAC.

In December 2009, China's foreign trade amounted to US$243 billion, which represented a year-on-year increase of 32.7 percent and a month-to-month rise of 16.7 percent.

In total, China's foreign trade in 2009 dropped 13.9 percent from a year earlier to US$2.21 trillion and its trade surplus last year slid 34.2 percent year on year to US$196.1 billion.

According to the GAC, the European Union (EU) continued to be China's biggest trading partner in 2009, with two-way trade totaling US$364.1 billion, down 14.5 percent from a year earlier.

Trade between China and the United States, the country's second biggest trade partner, fell 10.6 percent to US$298.3 billion.

Japan remained China's No. 3 trade partner with bilateral trade totaling US$228.9 billion, down 14.2 percent from 2008, according to the GAC.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2010)