Finnish imports from China up 47.2 pct in May: statistics

HELSINKI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Finland's goods imports from China increased by 47.2 percent year-on-year to 707.5 million euros (722 million U.S. dollars) in May, preliminary statistics from the Finnish Customs showed Wednesday.

The Customs attributed the rise to the import of a 62-million-euro ship from China. Finland's exports to China, however, declined by 11.2 percent in May.

Finland saw an overall increase in two-way trade in May, with goods exports up by 30.7 percent year-on-year to 6.9 billion euros, and imports up by 46.7 percent to 8.1 billion euros.

Exports to Russia were down by 44.7 percent, while imports from Russia increased by 13.2 percent, data showed.

During the Jan.-May period, exports to EU and non-EU countries rose by 31.6 percent and 15.6 percent respectively. Meanwhile, imports from EU member states and other countries rose by 24.7 percent and 56.7 percent respectively.

Finland's trade deficit reached almost 1.2 billion euros in May, compared with 225 million euros a year ago. In the first five months of this year, the country's trade deficit amounted to 5.6 billion euros from 1.6 billion euros reported in the same period last year. (1 euro = 1.02 U.S. dollars)