Shipping crates wait to be loaded in a Chinese port.
China probably became the world’s largest trading nation in 2013, overtaking the US, which held the top position for much of the twentieth century, a report said Friday.
China reported Friday that its total trade for 2013 reached $4.2 trillion, a sharp increase over the previous year. China had already become the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2009.
The US is scheduled to release its 2013 trade figures next month, but China, the worldâ„¢s second largest economy, is almost assured the top ranking.
According to the Department of Commerce, US imports and exports totaled $3.5 trillion in the first 11 months of the year. To retain the top spot, the US would have to more than double its average monthly performance in December.
“This is a milestone for the development of our national trading services,” Zheng Yuesheng, a Chinese Customs Administration official, said at a press conference.
“The gap between the overall trade of China and the US is likely to be almost $250bn in 2013,” said Rajiv Biswas, chief economist Asia-pacific at IHS.
The US still has the worldâ„¢s largest economy, about twice the size of China. However, China may surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy within a decade.
China has already surpassed the US as a trading partner for much of the world, including US allies such as South Korea and Australia, according to a 2012 Associated Press analysis of trade data.
AHT/ARA
Source: Press TV