CHINA'S trade with the United States, the European Union and Japan, its three major trade partners, continued to decline in the first quarter, the General Administration of Customs said in a report yesterday.

The bilateral trade volume between China and the US dropped to US$62.08 billion in the first quarter, down 15.7 percent year on year.

The export volume to the US fell to US$25.52 billion, a drop of 14.9 percent from the previous year.

China's trade surplus against the US shrank to US$28.96 billion in the first three months, down 13 percent year on year.

The bilateral trade volume between China and the EU slumped to US$75.19 billion, down 19.8 percent year on year.

The exports to the EU fell to US$17.21 billion, a slump of 20.2 percent year on year.

The country's trade volume with Japan sank to US$46.07 billion, a drastic year-on-year decrease of 23.8 percent.

Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom ranked the top three among China's European trade partners, with bilateral trade volume at US$21.63 billion, US$8.07 billion and US$7.7 billion, respectively.