China accounts for largest proportion of UK imports of goods in Q2: ONS

For the first time on record, Britain imported more goods from China than from any other country in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

Britain imported goods worth 11 billion pounds (about 14.8 billion U.S. dollars) from China and the proportion of its imports received from China increased from 8.6 percent in the first quarter (Q1) to 13.4 percent in Q2 2020, said the ONS.

"This was the first quarter that China accounted for the largest proportion of UK imports of goods," the ONS said.

Electrical machinery was the largest commodity group imported from China in Q2, accounting for 35.2 percent of all goods imports. It was also the second-largest commodity group in Q1, the ONS added.

The ONS data also showed that Britain imported 25.6 percent of all electrical machinery from China in the first half of 2020.

"This was mainly telecommunication and sound equipment, and office machinery, which mostly includes consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops," said the ONS.

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