China overtakes Germany as biggest exporter
 

Joe Mcdonald, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING - China overtook Germany as the world's top exporter after December exports jumped 17.7 per cent for their first increase in 14 months, data showed Sunday, in another sign of China's rise as a global economic force.

Exports for the last month of 2009 were US$130.7 billion, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. That raised total 2009 exports to $1.2 trillion, ahead of the $1.17 trillion for Germany forecast by its foreign trade organization, BGA.

China's new status is largely symbolic but reflects the ability of its resilient, low-cost manufacturers to keep selling abroad despite a slump in global consumer demand due to the financial crisis.

December's rebound was an "important turning point" for exporters, a customs agency economist, Huang Guohua, said on state television, CCTV.

"We can say that China's export enterprises have completely emerged from their all-time low in exports," Huang said.

Stronger foreign sales of Chinese goods could help to drive the country's recovery after demand plunged in 2008, forcing thousands of factories to close and throwing millions of labourers out of work.

Boosted by a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus, China's economic expansion accelerated to 8.9 per cent for the third quarter of 2009 and the government says full-year growth should be 8.3 per cent.

Economists and Germany's national chamber of commerce said earlier the country was likely to lose its longtime crown as top exporter.

German economist Volker Treier predicted recently that Germany was set to lose the "world export championship" because of China's bigger size and higher population.

"By 2010, this title will be history, because the Chinese will simply outdo us due to their bigness," Treier told the German news agency DAPD.

He said it may not be a bad thing, either, "because if China grows, this pushes the world's economy - and that's good for export-oriented Germany as well."

China is best known as a supplier of shoes, toys, furniture and other low-tech goods, while Germany exports machinery and other higher-value products. German commentators note that their country supplies the factory equipment used by top Chinese manufacturers.

China surpassed the United States as the biggest auto market in 2009 and is on track to replace Japan as the world's second-largest economy soon. China passed Germany as the third-largest economy in 2007.

China's trade surplus shrank by 34.2 per cent in 2009 to $196.07 billion, the customs agency said. That reflected China's stronger demand for imported raw materials and consumer goods while the United States and other economies are struggling and demand is weak.

The United States and other governments complain that part of China's export success is based on currency controls and improper subsidies that give its exporters an unfair advantage against foreign rivals.

Washington has imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese-made steel pipes and some other goods, while the European Union has imposed curbs on Chinese shoes.

The U.S. and other governments also complain that Beijing keeps its currency, the yuan, undervalued. Beijing broke the yuan's link to the dollar in 2005 and it rose gradually until late 2008, but has been frozen since then against the U.S. currency in what economists say is an effort by Beijing to keep its exporters competitive.

The dollar's weakness against the euro and some other currencies pulls down the yuan in markets that use them and makes Chinese goods even more attractive there, adding to China's trade surplus.

Even though China overtook Germany as top exporter, the customs agency said total 2009 Chinese trade fell 13.9 per cent from 2008.

Commodities were among China's key imports, the agency said, with the country bringing in 630 million tons of iron ore last year, up 41.6 per cent from the previous year, and 200 million tons of crude oil, an increase of 13.9 per cent, as prices for both commodities fell.

Economists say China has been rushing to build up stockpiles at bargain prices since crude oil and other commodity prices plunged in 2008. That motive, more than a revival in actual industrial demand, has driven its recent import boom of oil, copper and other metals.

And its only the beginning!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WHo7ehqEVs

Chinese people are hard working, unlike the lazy & fat north americans. I say they deserve it.

^^Wrong, loser. 75% of China's economy is supported by selling products to "lazy and fat" nations. Most of China's citizens are still dirt poor, live like animals, and can't afford shit. If USA and EU blocked imports from China, the Chinese economy would implode. Meanwhile, China has huge trade barriers blocking imports from other countries.

i didnt read the article but the news would only be interesting if they surpassed germany in exports of the same field

Quantity =/= Quality

why do ppl keep on buying useless shit that they dun need?

Did not know Germany was #1. What do they export?

does this include cheap knockoffs or not?

guns.

srsly.

http://tonybruno.files.wordpress.com...03/shamwow.jpg

maybe designed...made in china i guess

machinery
autos
chemicals
appliances
etc etc

And i thought China was already the leading exporter

uh...China doesn't just make your dollar store toys...they also manufacture your LCD TVs, cameras, computers, cellphones and other high tech stuff..and alot of "Made in China" stuff are actually ran by Taiwan, Japanese and other Asian companies..so Made in China isn't bad at all.

you are a joke. People like you like to focus on how many people are poor in China, but choose to neglect the fact that there are also tons of rich people in China. The rich people in China compose of only a small percentage of China's total population, but they support the entire economy, and kept the rest of Chinese fed.

This was actually a policy by the former leader Deng Xiaoping, who insisted that they should first let a few Chinese people get rich first. The rich can help the rest to become better off. And the result is the China today. If they had tried to let everyone get wealthy at the same pace, the result would be a country like the philipines, where everyone has a little bit of money, but not enough to do anything, espeically with China's massive population, this would be disastruos. You gotta give kudos to China for getting it right.

And China is not just export orientated...during the financial crisis they still kept their robust growth. The massive reduction in export didnt' hinder their growth, as the government has spent a great deal of money and effort to shift develop China's internal demand.

the only thing about this news that surprizes me is that they werent already the leader before.

i guess it takes alot of GI Joe's and Tshirts to equal one Porsche.

Lies. Most of the rich people in China got rich from corruption and nepotism, not anything they actually achieved through a meritocracy or education. That's why most of the rich people in China have no class, no taste, resemble farmers, and are frankly, much like you, a joke.

Walk into a Louis Vuitton store in Hong Kong and you can see what I mean.


I'm not sure if you really believe the bs you spew. The best political architecture for developing wealth is capitalism, and though the Chinese people are generally very capitalistic, the government system is a hindrance to the majority of the population except for those few priviledged. Why do you think you need to apply to get a "license" for anything you want to do in PRC? And there is no fair, transparent system of granting who gets those licenses. Most of the rich people in China don't give a shit about poor people in general. Charity is not in their nature.

First of all, the growth statistics in China are fabricated numbers. Nobody knows the true growth rates with any sense of accuracy. Second, the financial crisis resulted in a huge amount of layoffs of factory workers. The govt needs to sustain a growth rate in PRC for the people not to rebel against their corrupt, nepotistics, quasi-communist structure.

that might be the case during the 1990s, but the situation is rapidly changing. Nowadays alot of successful Chinese entrepenuers achieved their status through education and hardwork, and didn't have any family connections or corruptions like many of the wealthy people from before. This is even more so in the new high tech industries in China, for example internet companies, semi-conductor families and solar energy companies.

Corruption exists in any country. In your beloved USA the clearly underqualified and unintelligent George W Bush was able to graduate from Yale and went on to presidency, and started an barbaric war with Iraq just to rob their oil. You think there is any justice in that? and theres no corruption from his texan oil cartels?

China may have its problems, but anyone who thinks the problem is going to hinder their success is clearly stubborn and ignorant.

you are the joke.

That's actually true.

After all, most of the Chinese riches sent their kids to the States for school in the 90s.

Really? I suppose just any farmer can decide to raise the capital to build a semi-conductor or solar cell plant? In a corrupt society, you have to engage in corrupt practices to get ahead. None of the "entrepreneurs" who got successful in PRC did it by being clean.

He was still elected by the people, something you mainlanders would know nothing about.

I think we can see that the Chinese people anywhere outside of China can be remarkably successful, like in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Only difference here seems to be political and economic systems allowing private citizens to create wealth. Most of the wealth in PRC is still being created on the backs of sweatshop labor rather than IP.

My concern is not about the economic development of the Mainland, but rather that cultural development is not keeping pace. If PRC wants a larger influence and stronger voice on the world stage, it needs to get with the program and start embracing the values that have made Western countries great .
1) Freedom and Liberty
2) Capitalism
3) Social safety nets for the weakest members of society
4) Concern over long term sustainability rather than short term economic gain

Great post Marco.
I am Chinese myself.
You are not alone with your concerns. Unfortunately.... China is so far off with these concerns. These types of development are not even close to being established. We will never see these types of value accomplished in our lifetime.
Quite sad... quite sad....

Corrupt practices is a norm worldwide... no corporation hasn't been involved in corrupt activity, most certainly so for major corporations, if you deny that your just lying



Capitalism isn't the only path to a successful society... there's mountains of evidence to show its not the right path... you should know that.... everyone should...

Capitalism's a way to allocate resources - it works really well for that. It has tradeoffs, but so does every other system. Do you have a better one in mind?

Or what are your concerns with it? I'm guessing it's something to do with fairness cuz, yes, it creates winners and losers.

Corruption is everywhere and politics is dirty. With so many corrupted government and business leaders, why do some countries do better than others?

The report card is out there, can anyone argue China is worse off now than 30 years ago? Are we heading the right direction? Is the infant mortality rate, literacy rate, life expectancy getting better or worse?

Thanks to the biased western media, most of us don’t learn anything about the change in politics in China and the shift in economic policies since the late Deng overtook the Maoists abandoning communism embracing capitalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping

Most in North American would not know the difference between Mao and Deng, or anything about the power struggle between them and the Cultural Revolution.

All we have is the media telling us to protest against “red China” and embrace the Dalai Lama who practiced serfdom and slavery (until his uprising failed in 1959 forcing him to flee his 100+ rooms palace). Classic theocracy (completely against the US First Constitution of the Separation between the Church and the State), yet we are blinded by the brainwashing and Hollywood charm, and we follow this “Holy Man” who is but a puppet politician on US payroll.

What happened to the good old wall between church and state and why are we supporting a theocratic regime? Again, dirty politics I suppose.

Of course, the media is just as controlled in China, perhaps in a more crude and unsophisticated way.

Instead of taking passionate sides to support either China or the US, perhaps we should be more skeptical and curious, to develop more understanding. Learn to question instead of blindly follow.

China’s tremendous economic growth has resulted in many successful businesses. It is naïve to assume that they are all founded on corruption alone. And I think we may be too arrogant to assume that what works in the western world can be directly applied to China.

Both parties can learn from one another. It’s certainly not helpful just to call one fat and lazy.