Given the importance of these rapidly growing economies, it is no surprise that that their share in the foreign trade of the EU countries has also grown. Last year, China accounted for 8.4% of all exports for the EU as a whole, while Russia’s share was 6.4%.
On the import side both countries were even more important, and China accounted for almost 19% of all imports to the EU. Russia’s share was 10.5%. On the export side only the US was a more important trading partner than China, and on the import side China was clearly the most important trading partner, while the US and Russian shares were practically equal.