In this photo taken on Thursday, May 3, 2012, workers paste a giant advertisement poster for foreign product on the window of a department store in Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning province. China's government has taken the unusual step of publicly denying it passed the United States last year as the world's biggest trader - a politically sensitive status. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
China rejects status as world's biggest trader
In this photo taken on Thursday, May 3, 2012, workers paste a giant advertisement poster for foreign product on the window of a department store in Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning province. China's government has taken the unusual step of publicly denying it passed the United States last year as the world's biggest trader - a politically sensitive status. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer /
February 19, 2013
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The huge volume of China’s imports makes it a driver of growth for suppliers of goods from iron ore to computer chips, which is starting to translate into political influence.
Even with growth slower than its double-digit rates of the past decade, China’s share of world output and trade is expected to keep rising. Annual growth is forecast at up to 8 percent over the next decade, far above U.S. and European levels.
Chinese leaders are trying to nurture more self-sustaining economic growth based on domestic consumption instead of exports. That might slow demand growth for some raw materials, but China’s appetite for other imports could pick up as consumer spending rises.
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Chinese Ministry of Commerce (in Chinese): www.mofcom.gov.cn
EDITOR'S NOTE _ This story is part of ‘‘China’s Reach,’’ a project tracking China’s influence on its trading partners over three decades and exploring how that is changing business, politics and daily life. Keep up with AP’s reporting on China’s Reach, and join the conversation about it, using the hashtag (hash)APChinaReach on Twitter.
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