Ecuador’s Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment, and Fisheries reported Monday that China is the leading destination for Ecuador’s non-oil exports and the country from which most products are imported into the South American country.
According to the latest bulletin of foreign trade figures released by the ministry, non-oil exports to China, one of the country’s main trading partners, reached US$3.422 billion between January and July 2022.
This represents a 97.9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021, when exports totaled US$1.729 billion.
According to the report, the United States is Ecuador’s second largest trade destination after China, with foreign sales of US$2.57 billion.
Third place went to the European Union (EU), with exports worth US$2.295 billion.
The main Ecuadorian product exported to China in the first seven months of the year was shrimp, considered a premium product in high demand in that market.
The value of exports reached US$2.36 billion, an increase of 127.2 percent over the same period in 2021.
The products most sold to China were lead, copper concentrates, other mining products, natural flowers, balsa wood, wooden articles, plywood and pressed wood, fish meal, metal products, fish, and other goods.
Between January and July this year, China was the country of origin of Ecuadorian non-oil imports, ahead of the United States and the European Union.
Imports of products from the Asian country totaled US$3.439 billion, an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period in 2021, when they amounted to US$2.646 billion.
Meanwhile, Ecuadorian non-oil imports from the US reached US$1.741 billion and from the EU US$1.5 billion.
According to the ministry’s report, Ecuador imports from China mainly light and heavy motor vehicles, metal products, cell phones, household appliances, industrial machinery, motorcycles, velocipedes, and electrical appliances.