China's economic slowdown has weighed on trade between Japan and China. Bilateral trade in the first half of the year declined for the first time in 4 years.

Officials at the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, say bilateral trade, by value, stood at just over 147 billion dollars. That's down more than 10 percent from the same period last year.

Decline in exports from Japan to China is the main factor.
They fell nearly 17 percent, to about 61 billion dollars. Drops in semiconductor and auto shipments were largely to blame.

Japan's imports from China also declined. They dropped about 6 percent to around 86 billion dollars.

Sluggish imports of clothing and liquid crystal TVs are a factor.

Overall, Japan posted a record trade deficit of over 24 billion dollars with China for the January-June period.

----------------

This news was published on August 14, 2013.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130814_40.html