CHENGDU: In the first eight months of the year, the trade volume between China and the European Union increased by 32.4 percent year-on-year. The annual trade volume is likely to set a new record to exceed $700 billion, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said at the 16th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair on Friday.

The number of China-Europe freight trains ran over 10,000 during the same period, up 32 percent year on year. In the first seven months of this year, China's investment in the EU and EU investment in China increased by 86.1 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, year-on-year, said Zhai Qian, an official with the MOC.