China's trade with ASEAN members amounted to US$95.55 billion in the first five months of this year, a growth of 26.9 percent over the same period of last year, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday.

The total included US$50.27 billion in import value, up 22.3 percent, and US$45.28 billion in export value, up 32.6 percent. The trade deficit went down US$1.96 billion, or 28.2 percent, to US$4.99 billion.

Trade deficit was mainly recorded in the new- and high-tech sector, which stood at US$11.8 billion in such products, up 4.7 percent.

The five months saw an import of US$25.01 billion worth of new- and high-tech products from ASEAN members, up 16.7 percent, and an export of US$13.21 billion worth, up 30 percent.

China's top five trade partners in ASEAN were Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippine. The five accounted for US$84.84, or 88.8 percent, of the total China-ASEAN trade volume.

Most trade fell in the sectors of machinery and electronics. From January to May, The value of machines and electronics traded between China and ASEAN members increased by 27.4 percent to US$54.7 billion, or 57.2 percent of the total.

In the first five months, China bought US$2.39 billion worth of oil products from ASEAN members, up 80.3 percent, and 310 million dollars worth of fruits, up 47.1 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2008)