Doing Business in China

China Exports 2009 December increase 17.7%

China’s exports surged in December and imports rose to a record in a stronger-than-forecast trade rebound that may lessen the case for governments to sustain stimulus programs this year.

Exports climbed 17.7 percent from a year earlier, the first increase in 14 months, and imports jumped 55.9 percent, the customs bureau said on its Web site yesterday. Year-on-year comparisons are affected by declines from late 2008 as the global credit crisis deepened.

For all of 2009, iron-ore imports surged 42 percent from a year earlier, those for copper and its products soared 63 percent, and purchases of aluminum and its products climbed 164 percent.

In December, exports were $130.7 billion and imports were $112.3 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $18.4 billion.

For the year, China's trade with the European Union, its top trading partner, fell 14.5% to $364 billion as exports to the EU slumped 19.4% to $236 billion. China's trade with the U.S., its second largest trading partner, sank 10.6% to $298 billion as exports fell 12.5% to $221 billion.

More information about China Exports 2009: