U.S. Becomes China's Largest Export Destination

The U.S. replaced Japan as China's largest export destination last year, a Chinese foreign trade official said at the ongoing China Export Commodity Fair.

Chen Xinhua, vice minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said at the U.S. Retail Industry and China Enterprises Summit held during the fair, that foreign trade between America, the most powerful developed country, and China, the largest developing country, is mutually complementary. Sino-American foreign trade amounted to US$ 61.5 billion in 1999, up 12 percent over the previous year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. Of this total, China's export to the US increased by 7.5 percent last year to US$ 42 billion.

Chen said that exports to the U.S. are mainly light textile products and home appliances, comparatively cheap commodities. China also imports large amounts of high-tech products from America, such as telecommunications and electronic gadgets and equipment, making China the third largest importer of US goods. The official noted that the agreement reached between China and the U.S. in November last year on China's accession to the World Trade Organization was consistent with the interests of people in both countries.

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