China's trade with Japan fell 5.1 percent in 2013 to $312.5 billion, down for the second straight year, the General Customs Administration said Friday.
The decline was even worse than the 3.9 percent contraction in 2012 and reflected the lingering effects of the Senkaku Islands territorial row.
China's trade with Japan fell for the first time in three years in 2012 owing to a consumer boycott sparked by territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
The figures released Friday also show that China's overall foreign trade in 2013 grew 7.6 percent from the previous year — an improvement of 6.2 percent growth in 2012 and putting into sharp relief the trade contraction with Japan.
The total value of China's exports and imports last year reached $4.16 trillion.