China's capital beat the national average for growth in foreign trade in the first half of the year, with the trade deficit widening.

Local customs sources said Tuesday that Beijing generated 185.6 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade over the past six months, a rise of 28.7 percent from the same period of last year. The growth rate was higher than the national average of 25.8 percent.

The total included 27 billion U.S. dollars of exports, up 4 percent year-on-year, and 158.6 billion dollars of imports, up 34.1 percent. The trade deficit amounted to 131.6 billion dollars, up 42.6 percent.

Between January and June, Beijing's trade with the European Union stood at 21.72 billion U.S. dollars, up 17.3 percent year-on-year, trade with the United States reached 12.52 billion dollars, up 40.9 percent, and trade with Japan hit 10.05 billion dollars, up 15.5 percent.

In June alone, the city sold 520 million U.S. dollars worth of goods to Japan, up 68.2 percent year-on-year, and bought 1.45 billion dollars worth from it, up 20.5 percent.

The six months saw Beijing export 1.42 billion U.S. dollars worth of rolled steel, up 29.4 percent year-on-year; 630 million dollars worth of farm produce, up 24.6 percent; and 15.63 billion dollars worth of machinery and electronics, down 1 percent.

From January to June, the city imported 36.73 billion U.S. dollars worth of machinery and electronics, up 17.8 percent year-on-year, 75.04 billion dollars worth of crude oil, up 37.2 percent, and 7.7 billion dollars worth of iron ore, up 21.2 percent. (Xinhua)