Meaning of 贸易
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (commercial) trade
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 贸易
贸易 is a formal noun used for trade between companies, regions or countries, common in news and business contexts. It often appears in set phrases like 国际贸易 (guójì màoyì, international trade) and 贸易公司 (màoyì gōngsī, trading company). Example: 中国和美国的贸易很重要。(Zhōngguó hé Měiguó de màoyì hěn zhòngyào.) Trade between China and the US is very important.
贸 (mào) has 贝 (bèi), the old symbol for shells and money, at the bottom, so it is about buying and selling. 易 (yì) means to exchange, so 贸易 is money changing hands in exchange for goods: trade.
Common mistake: Learners often read 易 here as "easy" because they know it from 容易 (róngyì). In 贸易 it means "exchange", and it keeps the fourth tone yì, so both syllables are fourth tone: màoyì.
贸易 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
贸 mào · commerce · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
易 yì · to change · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 贸易.
| 容易 | róngyì | easy; straightforward; likely; liable to; apt to |
| 交易 | jiāoyì | to deal; to trade; to transact; transaction; deal |
| 轻易 | qīngyì | easy; simple; rashly; offhandedly |
| 不易 | bùyì | not easy to do sth; difficult |
| 好不容易 | hǎobùróngyì | with great difficulty; very difficult |
| 好容易 | hǎoróngyì | (idiomatic usage) with great difficulty; to have a hard time (convincing sb, relinquishing |
| 显而易见 | xiǎn'éryìjiàn | clearly and easy to see (idiom); obviously; clearly |
| 轻而易举 | qīng'éryìjǔ | easy; with no difficulty |
| 简易 | jiǎnyì | simple and easy; simplistic |
| 经贸 | jīngmào | economy and trade (abbr. for 經濟貿易|经济贸易[jing1 ji4 mao4 yi4]) |
| 外贸 | wàimào | foreign trade |
| 易拉罐 | yìlāguàn | pull-top can; easy-open can (with ring-pull) |
Questions about 贸易
What does 贸易 mean?
贸易 (màoyì) means "(commercial) trade" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 贸易?
贸易 is made of 2 characters: 贸 (9 strokes), 易 (8 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 贸易 an HSK word?
Yes. 贸易 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 贸易 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 贸易 is written 貿易.
What is the difference between 贸易 and 交易?
贸易 means trade as a large-scale activity or field, such as trade between countries. 交易 (jiāoyì) usually refers to a specific deal or transaction, and it can also be used as a verb meaning to trade or deal.
Can 贸易 be used as a verb?
Not usually. To say two sides trade with each other, Chinese uses a verb phrase like 进行贸易 (jìnxíng màoyì, to carry out trade) or 做贸易 (zuò màoyì, to do trade business).