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To: long-gone who wrote (90738)	10/24/2002 3:03:14 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116822

Once considered as the world's "Yellow Peril", China will soon be the world's second largest trading power. China will soon be 'world's second largest trading power' Official cites country's rapid rise in bold prediction BEIJING - Every person in the world owns at least one pair of shoes and 2.8 items of clothing made in China. If the country, already the No 1 exporter of many labour-intensive products, keeps up its rapid pace of growth, it will become the world's second largest trading power within the next few years, just behind the United States, a top Beijing official was quoted as saying yesterday. The China Business Times cited Mr Shan Qingjiang, the director of the science and technology department in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, as making the prediction at a trade conference this week. Explaining the reason for his optimistic forecast, Mr Shan noted that China, which ranked 15th in world trade in 1988, had made a great leap to become the world's sixth largest importer and exporter last year. Foreign trade in the world's most populous market had been growing at a much higher rate than the world average for the past 12 years, he said. Since last year, China also witnessed rapid growth in exports of higher-end products such as mobile phone handsets, computer monitors and air conditioners, he added. Mr Shan attributed the trade growth to China being a safe and cheap production base with low-cost labour, improving technology and a stable political situation. Labour-intensive industries and technology and capital-intensive industries moving to China, especially to southern and eastern China's Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas, also contributed to the rapid trade growth, he said. China's total trade volume for this year is expected to hit US$600 billion (S$1.07 trillion), compared to US$509.8 billion for last year, according to official predictions. Exports in the first nine months of the year rose 19.4 per cent year-on-year while imports rose 17.2 per cent, resulting in a trade surplus that rose 49.4 per cent year-on-year to US$20 billion. China's economy grew 7.9 per cent over the same period, and officials expect it to grow by 7.8 per cent for the whole year. --AFP