China's foreign trade volume totaled 6.57 trillion yuan in the first quarter of this year, falling 6.4 percent year-on-year, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.

The country's imports and exports recovered in March. Its foreign trade amounted to 2.45 trillion yuan, decreasing 0.8 percent year-on-year.
China's exports fell by 3.5 percent to 1.29 trillion yuan and imports grew by 2.4 percent to 1.16 trillion yuan last month.

The country's exports dropped by 11.4 percent to 3.33 trillion yuan, and imports declined by 0.7 percent to 3.24 trillion yuan between January and March, according to customs data.

In the meantime, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations replaced the European Union to become China's largest trading partner. China's foreign trade with ASEAN registered 991.34 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1 percent on a yearly basis, accounting for 15.1 percent of China's total trade volume with the world.

China's trade with the EU, the United States and Japan totaled 875.93 billion yuan, 668.01 billion yuan and 465.68 billion yuan between January and March of this year, dropping 10.4 percent, 18.3 percent and 8.1 percent year-on-year, respectively.

China's foreign trade with economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative rose 3.2 percent on a yearly basis to 2.07 trillion yuan during the three-month period.