ALGIERS — China has maintained its pole position as the largest commercial supplier of Algeria during the first nine months of 2016 with a trading volume of about $6.2 billion, according to figures provided by Customs’ National Center for Data and Statistics on Oct 24.

China accounted for about 17.7 percent of the overall $35 billion imports of the North African nation.

At the end of 2015, imports from China accounted for about 16 percent of a total of $51.5 billion imports of Algeria.

Italy shares the second position with France, with $3.7 billion each, the figures show.