China's farm produce foreign trade up in first three quarters

Custom staff members check imported durians at the port of the Friendship Pass in Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Sept. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade of agricultural products went up 1.4 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2023 to reach 251.03 billion U.S. dollars, official data showed.

China's farm produce exports came in at 72.2 billion dollars, edging up 0.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

China's imports of such products stood at 178.83 billion dollars, up 1.8 percent year on year, the data revealed.

The country's foreign trade deficit in terms of agricultural products rose 2.9 percent compared to a year earlier to total 106.63 billion dollars during the period.