Chinese ICT Exports Overtake USA

China overtook the United States in 2004 to become the world's leading exporter of information and communications technology (ICT) goods such as mobile phones, laptop computers and digital cameras, according to OECD data.

China exported US$180 billion worth of ICT goods in 2004, compared with U.S. exports in the same category valued at US$149 billion. In 2003, the U.S. led with exports of ICT goods worth US$137 billion, followed by China with US$123 billion.

The data show a shift towards more trade between China and other Asian countries, with a corresponding decline in ICT imports to this region from the European Union and the U.S. To manufacture laptops and advanced mobile phones, China previously relied on electronic components, such as computer chips, imported from the EU and U.S. These are now also being increasingly sourced from other Asian countries, including Japan (18% of China's ICT imports), Chinese Taipei (16%), Korea (13%) and Malaysia (8%).

The increased share of Japan's exports to China, for example, was mainly in electronic components. China itself is also manufacturing and exporting more electronic components than ever before, with these now forming China's second largest export item, after computer and related equipment.

While computer & related equipment continues to be the major export item of China, exports of audio & video and telecommunications equipment have also soared. A striking aspect is the strong Chinese export growth of telecommunications equipment which was negligible in 1996 but grew to US$26 billion in 2004 (14% of total ICT exports), with the second biggest yearly growth rates from 1996 to 2004 (yearly 34%), a trade surplus in 2000 and exports growing by 76% from 2003 to 2004. Chinese imports of telecommunications equipment from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and other Asian regions have been growing at very substantial rates while they have been falling from countries such as the United States.

China's trade balance by ICT goods categories, 1996-2004

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Posted to the site on 13th December 2005