Trade between China and the European Union (EU) totaled 35.6 billion euros (49.4 billion dollars) in July. The asian giant overtook the U.S. as biggest trading partner of the EU, said the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, citing the latest statistics from the Statistical Office of the EU (Eurostat).

The total value of trade between China and the EU in July exceeded 800 million euros to that between the U.S. and the EU, counting 13.4% of total imports and exports the EU, according to figures published by Eurostat.

Trade between China and the EU, however, fell by 0.8% in July compared to the same period last year.

China remains the second largest destination market for EU exports. The European Union has made exports worth 11.7 billion euros to China in July, up 12.3% year on year. This percentage is higher than the growth rate of total exports of the EU (4.1%).

The EU imported 23.9 billion euros from China, representing a decrease of 6.2% in one year. However, China ranks the leading exporting countries to the EU, and products from China accounted for 17.4% of total EU imports.

The EU announced a trade deficit of 12.2 billion euros with China in July.