China imported 56,000 automobiles in January this year, 1.4 times as many as last January, according to statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The total national trade value for January was US$204.8 billion, up 44.4% year on year, but down 15.7% month on month as a result of the international financial crisis and factors related to Spring Festival.

The export value was US$109.5 billion, up 21% year on year, but down 16.3% month on month. Import value was US$95.3 billion, up 85.5% year on year, but down 15.1% month on month.

Meanwhile, imports related to automobiles, such as iron ore, petroleum, copper, aluminum and other bulk commodities, continued to grow, and average import prices also rose.