New Zealand’s monthly imports of goods from China reached a record in September, topping 1 billion NZ dollars ($674 million) for the first time, the government statistics agency said Tuesday. Xinhua reported. Monthly imports from China were up 22% to $741.4 million, compared with September 2014, according to Statistics New Zealand. Total monthly imports, excluding large import items, were the highest-ever in September, up 8.1% year-on-year to $3.3 billion. Annual goods imports from China also reached a new high of $6.74 billion in the year to the end of September, up 19% year-on-year. Total goods imports for the year ending September reached $35.03 billion, the highest-ever for a 12-month period. “The value of imports from China has increased across most commodities for the last 12 months,” international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said in a statement. “Mobile phones and laptops led the increase, up a quarter of a billion NZ dollars.” New Zealand’s trade deficit last month was $808.68 million, or 33% of exports.
