The United States has taken over the EU as the largest buyer of Chinese goods and services in the first half of 2012. According to China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), China's exports to the US rose 13.6% year on year to $165.32 billion, compared with $163.06 billion to the EU. On the other hand, the EU remained China's largest trading partner in the first half of this year, with bilateral trade reaching $267.82 billion, up slightly by 0.7% from a year ago. Sino-US trade has soared by 11.9% to reach $231.12 billion, as statistics have shown.