Chinese exports to Cape Verde increased by 144.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015, Cape Verdean newspaper A Semana reports.

The newspaper cited figures from the National Institute of Statistics of Cape Verde that China was the third biggest source of goods for the African archipelago in the January-March period, accounting for 8.3 percent of total imports of Cape Verde. The newspaper did not disclose the aggregate value of imports from China.

Portugal remained the biggest supplier to Cape Verde, accounting for 43.3 percent of the archipelago’s total imports.

Cape Verdean imports in the three months to March 31 went up by 12.8 percent from the prior-year period, while its exports plunged by 25.1 percent, A Semana reported.