New Zealand's exports to China up 8.5 pct

WELLINGTON, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's total annual goods exports to China were up 107 million NZ dollars (65.45 million U.S. dollars), or 8.5 percent, in July 2024, compared with July 2023, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.

The largest rises of exports to China were fruit, up 76 million NZ dollars (46.49 million dollars), Stats NZ said, adding exports of preparations of milk, cereals, flour, and starch were up 53 million NZ dollars (32.42 million dollars), and logs, wood, and wood articles, were up 52 million NZ dollars (31.81 million dollars).

The largest falls of exports to China were meat and edible offal, down 83 million NZ dollars (50.77 million dollars), and wood pulp and waste paper were down 12 million NZ dollars (7.34 million dollars), it said.

New Zealand's total goods exports to all the destinations rose by 14 percent to 6.1 billion NZ dollars (3.73 billion dollars) in July 2024, compared with July 2023, it said, adding goods imports rose by 8.5 percent to 7.1 billion NZ dollars (4.34 billion dollars).

Among all goods, New Zealand's exports of milk powder, butter, and cheese rose 11 percent to 1.6 billion NZ dollars (980 million dollars), statistics show.

Fruit exports, led by kiwifruit, were up 28 percent, Stats NZ said.

The monthly trade balance in July 2024 was a deficit of 963 million NZ dollars (589.07 million dollars), and the annual trade deficit was 9.3 billion NZ dollars (5.69 billion dollars) in the year ended July 2024, it said, adding that in the year ended July 2023, the annual trade deficit was 15.8 billion NZ dollars (9.67 billion dollars).