DUBLIN - China-Ireland goods trade for the first quarter of this year reached $3.149 billion, up 15 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the official statistics released here on Friday.

The Chinese embassy in Ireland quoted the latest Chinese customs' data as saying that during the January-March period of 2018 China imported a total of $2.38 billion of goods from Ireland, up 9.65 percent over a year ago, while its goods exports to the latter totalled $769 million, up 37 percent year-on-year.

The trade deficit that China suffered against Ireland for the first three months of this year stood at $1.611 billion, up 0.14 percent compared with the corresponding period of 2017, revealed the statistics.

Last year China-Ireland goods trade posted a record high of $11.05 billion. Nevertheless, the bilateral trade between the two countries only accounted for less than 5 percent of Ireland's total goods imports and exports in 2017, which stood at 199.028 billion euros (about $240 billion), according to the data of the Irish national statistics bureau.

Facing the possible negative impact of Brexit on the Irish imports and exports, the Irish government has stepped up its efforts in helping local companies to explore and develop new markets outside of their traditional markets in Europe and North America.

Currently Britain is the second largest trading partner of Ireland only next to the United States, with the bilateral goods trade between the two countries totalling 34.987 euros in 2017.

"We believe there is a huge potential for the Irish exports in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in China," said Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, at an international conference held here on Wednesday.

As a government agency tasked to help Irish companies to market their goods and services overseas, Enterprise Ireland believes that with its rapidly growing middle-class population and its transition to a more quality- and services- oriented economy, China has offered immense opportunities for Ireland, especially for its sectors of agriculture, information and communications technology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as education.

Enterprise Ireland predicts that China will become a major trading partner of Ireland by the year 2030 with the bilateral trade to grow about 10 percent annually in the coming decade or so.