China Thai biggest trade partner
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China edged out Japan as Thailand's largest trade partner for the first time last year, a research centre said Friday.
Thai-Chinese trade reached US$64.97 billion (Bt2.097 trillion) in 2013, or 13.6 per cent of the total trade value that year, slightly above the 13.2 per cent accounted for by Thai-Japanese trade, reported the Kasikorn Research Centre, a subsidiary of Kasikornbank.
KResearch warned that Thailand’s trade deficit with China, which was $10.5 billion in 2013, was likely to be even higher this year.
“Exports to China in January 2014 declined 0.77 per cent year on year, while imports from China grew 3.4 per cent year on year,” said the economic think-tank. “As a result, Thailand suffered a trade deficit of $1.34 billion with [mainland China], the highest monthly change in six months.
KResearch also noted that China’s trade surplus with Asean had been on the rise since trade tariffs were eased under a free-trade agreement that came into effect in 2003.
DPA
