By: Elsayed Gamal
Riyadh – Mubasher: China ranked first among Saudi Arabia’s trade partners after trade exchange between the two nations jumped 14.9%, or SAR 2.63 billion, to SAR 20.25 billion in January, from SAR 17.62 billion in the same month a year earlier, Mubasher reported, citing data from the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).
The kingdom logged a trade surplus of SAR 3.88 billion with Beijing in January, down 27.7% from SAR 5.36 billion in the prior-year period.
Saudi merchandise exports to its East Asian partner, which include oil and non-oil commodities, levelled up 4.98% year-on-year to SAR 12.06 billion in the first month of 2019, against SAR 11.49 billion.
The GCC nation’s oil exports to China jumped 15.9% year-on-year in January, logging SAR 3.13 billion compared to SAR 2.69 billion, while Beijing’s exports to Riyadh surged 33.6% to SAR 6.13 billion.
Japan was the second destination for Saudi exports with SAR 8.34 billion last January, down 21.8% year-on-year from SAR 10.67 billion.
Translated by: Mohammad Hesham Azab
