AP: China overtakes Germany as biggest exporter
The Associated Press reported on January 10th:
Already the biggest auto market and steel maker, China edged past Germany in 2009 to become the top exporter, yet another sign of its rapid rise and the spread of economic power from West to East.
Total 2009 exports were more than $1.2 trillion, China's customs agency said Sunday. That was ahead of the 816 billion euros ($1.17 trillion) forecast for Germany by its foreign trade organization, BGA.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of this news to those who don't closely follow the rankings of the world's exporters may be the fact that China had not overtaken Germany much earlier. China's might as an export superpower has been writ large in the media for years, so much so that a relatively small nation such as Germany should have been left in the dust long ago. Yet, Germany's export strength has been known for decades, and the latest news simply serves as a reminder that there are export nations other than China that are also crucial to world trade. Japan, of course, is one such nation, as are some of the emerging Asian countries, such as Taiwan and Korea.