K*****2
发帖数: 9308 | 1 China became the world's largest trading nation in 2013, overtaking the US
in what Beijing described as "a landmark milestone" for the country.
China's annual trade in goods passed the $4tn (￡2.4tn) mark for the first
time last year according to official data, after exports from the world's
second largest economy rose 7.9% to $2.21tn and imports rose 7.3% to $1.95tn.
As a result total trade rose 7.6% over the year to $4.16tn. The US is yet to
publish its 2013 trade figures, but with trade totalling $3.5tn in the
first 11 months of the year, it is unlikely to beat China.
The shift in the trading pecking order reflected China's rising global
dominance, despite a slowdown in economic growth last year.
Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for China's customs administration, said: "It is
very likely that China overtook the US to become the world's largest
trading country in goods in 2013 for the first time. This is a landmark
milestone for our nation's foreign trade development."
China had already become the world's largest exporter of goods in 2009.
The country's trade surplus rose 12.8% in 2013 to almost $260bn, but the
December surplus of $25.6bn was down 17.4% and fell short of the $31.15bn
predicted by economists in a Reuters poll.
Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG, described the December figure as "a
high-quality miss once dissected".
"Imports were up 8.3%, easily surpassing expectations of 5% and showing the
second highest nominal reading ever recorded. While exports missed estimates
at +4.3% (as opposed to the expected +5%), the value of exports was the
highest ever recorded."
There have been concerns in recent months over the accuracy of the country's
trade data, with speculation that some Chinese companies have overstated
their exports to circumvent controls on cross-border transactions and bring
more cash into the country.
However analysts said a recent clampdown on such activity was likely to
result in more accurate data. In May last year China's foreign exchange
regulator, the state administration of foreign exchange, announced plans to
more closely scrutinise exports paperwork and impose tougher penalties where
deals had been faked.
Sun Junwei, China economist at HSBC in Beijing, said: "Recent measures could
be working to squeeze out these fake trade activities. We actually think
these activities would be relatively contained this year compared with last
year." | P******O
发帖数: 2397 | | g*******0
发帖数: 2933 | |
|
