There was plenty of excitement for Team China on Day Two at Rio.  And before we get to that, let's look at the latest trade figures. July's foreign trade total continued to shrink, but at a slower pace compared to the first six months.

The figure came in at 2.09 billion yuan, about 1 percent down year on year. Exports rose 2.9 percent, surpassing 1.2 trillion yuan, but imports declined 5.7 percent at 873 billion. That led to a monthly trade surplus of 342 billion yuan, up 34 percent from one year earlier. In the first seven months, foreign trade was 3 percent lower than a year before. 

Exports were down 1.6 percent and imports down 4.8 percent. Trade surplus for the first seven months widened 8.7 percent from one year earlier to about 2 trillion yuan. Among China's top trading partners, foreign trade with the European Union climbed 1.8 percent year on year in the first seven months while trade with the US, fell 4.8 percent, and with ASEAN, it saw a 2.2 percent drop.