BEIJING: China is now the world’s biggest trading nation by surpassing the US as the most dominant player in international goods trade.
US exports and imports of goods last year totaled $3.82 trillion, the US Commerce Department said recently. China’s customs administration reported last month that the country’s total trade in goods in 2012 amounted to $3.87 trillion. China’s 2012 trade surplus, measured in goods, totaled $231.1 billion.
The US last year recorded a goods deficit of more than $700 billion, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis figures.
Asset managers and economist forecast that China’s growing stature in international goods trade may show a further upswing and by the end of the decade many European countries will be doing more individual trade with China than with bilateral partners in Europe, a threat to the regional trade blocs.
The Asian giant shall become the most important commercial partner for countries including Germany, which will export twice as much to China by the end of the decade as it does to neighbouring France.
“At this kind of pace, by the end of the decade many European countries will be doing more individual trade with China than with bilateral partners in Europe,” an expert said.
The US gross domestic product in 2011 reached $15 trillion while China’s totalled $7.3 trillion. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported January 18 that the country’s nominal gross domestic product in 2012 totaled 51.93 trillion yuan ($8.3 trillion).
Author Profile
- India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.
Latest entries
India and the WorldApril 30, 2025Pahalgam terror attack: Modi provides armed forces full freedom to act- India and the WorldApril 23, 2025Kashmir terror: India hits back at Pakistan, highlights cross-border linkages
- India and the WorldApril 23, 2025The Century of America and India: Growing Together
- In ConversationApril 20, 2025India Can Contribute Largely to Development of Morocco’s Defence Industry: Ambassador
