Export Boom

Xinhua reports that Chinese exports rose nearly twenty percent in December making it the world’s largest exporter. “The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn. Xinhua said total exports for 2009 were $1.2tn (£7.5tn), but that total foreign trade over the year was down 13.9%. Correspondents say the figures will lead to new demands from China’s competitors that it devalue the yuan. Last year saw a continuing decrease in China’s trade as the global economic downturn led to a fall in demand for its products. But in the last few weeks of the year, there was a far greater rise than forecasters had expected, with foreign exports reaching $130.7bn, up 17.7% on the previous December. China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) said exports overall in the year were $1.2tn, down 16% from in 2008, while imports were 11.2% down from a year earlier at $1.01tn. The politically sensitive total trade surplus was down 34.2% to $196.1bn, a fall of almost a third. The figures suggests China will surpass Germany’s export total for the whole of 2009, although this will not be confirmed until Germany’s full-year data is published in February. A spokesman for GAC said the increase was “an important turning point” for the country. “It is safe to say now that Chinese exporters have come right through the period of weakness,” Xinhua quoted statistician Huang Guohua as saying.”