In December 2009, China's imports hit record monthly high to reach 112.3 billion U.S. dollars, up 55.9 percent from the same period of 2008, according to the GAC.

The Fujian-based Industrial Securities said in a research note Sunday that the jump of December's imports resulted from strong domestic demand for commodities and mechanical equipment that were necessary in construction of infrastructure projects and property.

Imports of raw materials that were used in manufacturing trade also rose significantly, it said.

According to the GAC, China's imports of iron ore in 2009 rose 41.6 percent from a year earlier to 630 million tonnes, at an average price of 79.9 U.S. dollars per tonne.

In 2009, the economy imported 200 million tonnes of crude oil, up 13.9 percent from 2008, at an average price of 438 U.S. dollars per tonne.

The country's imports in 2009 stood at 1.01 trillion U.S. dollars, down 11.2 percent from a year earlier, said the GAC.

In December 2009, China's foreign trade amounted to 243 billion U.S. dollars, which represented a year-on-year increase of 32.7 percent and a month-to-month rise of 16.7 percent.

In total, China's foreign trade in 2009 dropped 13.9 percent from a year earlier to 2.21 trillion U.S. dollars and its trade surplus last year slid 34.2 percent year on year to 196.1 billion U.S. dollars.

According to the GAC, the European Union (EU) continued to be China's biggest trading partner in 2009, with two-way trade totaling 364.1 billion U.S. dollars, down 14.5 percent from a year earlier.

Trade between China and the United States, the country's second biggest trade partner, fell 10.6 percent to 298.3 billion U.S. dollars.

Japan remained China's No. 3 trade partner with bilateral trade totaling 228.9 billion U.S. dollars, down 14.2 percent from 2008, according to the GAC.