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 figures released Sunday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In breakdown, China's exports in 2009 stood at US$1.2 trillion, down 16 percent from in 2008, and imports reached US$1.01 trillion, down 11.2 percent from a year earlier, said the GAC.

In December 2009, monthly 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.

Last month, China's exports were worth US$130.7 billion, up 17.7 percent from a year earlier. December's imports hit record monthly high to reach US$112.3 billion, up 55.9 percent from the same period of 2008, according to the GAC.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2010)