US becomes largest trade partner of SW China province

The United States surpassed ASEAN countries to become the largest trade partner of southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to statistics released by local customs on Thursday.

In the first 11 months of 2013, the trade volume between Sichuan and the U.S. reached 10.57 billion U.S. dollars, down 8.1 percent year on year. The figure accounted for 18.1 percent of the total foreign trade volume of the province.

Sichuan's trade volume with ASEAN countries totaled 10.44 billion U.S.dollars, up 36.4 year on year. Trade volume with the European Union hit 8.6 billion U.S. dollars, down 5.2 percent year on year.

The U.S. had long been the largest trade partner of Sichuan Province, but it was overtaken by ASEAN in the first 10 months of this year, said the Chengdu customs.

Sichuan's foreign trade volume reached 58.33 billion U.S. dollars between January and November of this year, up 8.7 percent from the previous year.

Mechanical and electrical products top Sichuan's exports, said customs.