(Photo: Xinhua)

China was the biggest supplier of imported goods of the Philippines in December 2019, with 24.1 percent share to the total imports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.

The PSA said in a report that import payments to China amounted to 1.98 billion U.S. dollars, from 1.92 billion U.S. dollars in December 2018.

Other major import trading partners were Japan with an import value of 749.65 million U.S. dollars; South Korea, 661.17 million U.S. dollars; the U.S., 598.11 million U.S. dollars; and Singapore, 514.87 million U.S. dollars, the PSA added.

By economic bloc, the PSA said East Asia was the biggest supplier of the country's imports in December 2019, with a value of 3.97 billion U.S. dollars or 48.3 percent of the total imports.

"This amount decreased by 5.2 percent, from USD 4.18 billion in December 2018," PSA Head Dennis Mapa said.