Trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries stood at US$90 billion between January and August 2014, or a year on year increase of 4.69 percent, according to official figures from China published in Macau.

In the eight-month period China sold goods and services to the eight Portuguese-speaking countries worth US$29.031 billion (+ 2.95 percent) and bought goods amounting to US$61.034 billion (+5.55 percent), leading to a trade deficit of US$32.003 billion.

Brazil, China’s main trading partner in the world, registered bilateral trade of US$60.316 billion (+2.50 percent), with China selling goods worth US$22.678 billion (-2 .45 percent) and purchasing goods worth US$37.637 billion (+5.74 percent).

In second place was Angola with trade of US$24.96 billion (+6.28 percent), with Angola buying goods totalling US$3.181 billion (+29.34 percent) and selling goods, mainly oil, amounting to US$21.779 billion (+3.58 percent).

Far behind Angola was Portugal, with two-way trade with China worth US$3.232 billion (+25.15 percent), of which US$2.086 billion (+26.93 percent) was Portuguese purchases of Chinese products and US$1.145 billion (+22.04 percent) were Chinese purchases of Portuguese products.

Mozambique appears in fourth place with a bilateral trade amounting to US$1.424 billion (+37.42 percent), with China having sold goods worth US$1billion (+28.15 percent) and buying goods in the amount of US$423 million (+65.79 percent).

The other Portuguese-speaking countries – Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Sao Tome and Principe – traded a total of US$131 million with China.