China exported 3.03 billion US dollars worth of electric household appliances during the first three quarters of this year, up 19 percent over the same period last year, according to the China Association for Electric Household Appliances.

The association said in a report that China now produces 24 percent of the world's washing machines, 16 percent of the world's refrigerators, and 30 percent of the world's air conditioners.

In the last three years, air conditioners and microwave ovens have been taking up a rapidly increasing share of the total exports. During the first nine months, the export value of the air conditioners and microwave ovens increased more than 60 percent over the same period last year.

In 1998, China's electric household appliances exports were over 40 times that in 1985, and this sector now is selling its products in over 180 countries. Annual exports to the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, and France surpassed 100 million US dollars last year.