The State Council Information Office published its first white paper on foreign trade today, which found that China’s economic development has brought substantial benefits to the world.
China’s contribution to world GDP growth increased from 4.6 percent in 2003 to 14.5 percent in 2009, making it the largest contributor to world economic growth, according to World Bank calculations.
Chong Quan, a trade representative from the Ministry of Commerce, cited research from Goldman Sachs saying China’s cumulative contribution to the world economy exceeded 20 percent from 2000 to 2009, which is higher than that of the United States.
In 2009, China’s import volume grew by 2.8 percent, making it the only one among major world economies that witnessed growth in imports. Despite a 12.9 percent decline in global trade, China became the world’s second largest importer with more than 1 trillion U.S. dollars of import value, making important contributions to global economic recovery.
WTO data shows that China’s exports and imports enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 17 percent and 15 percent from 2000 to 2009, respectively, much higher than the average annual growth rate of the global trade volume in the same period, which was only 3 percent.
It is more noteworthy that China’s imports from the least developed countries increased from 23.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2007 to 43.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2010. China has been the largest export market of the least developed countries since 2008.
It has promised to offer zero tariff preference on 95 percent of taxable items of products exported to China from the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and exempt the interest-free government loans that are overdue but unpaid by the least developed countries and heavily indebted poor countries.
Read more: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90780/91344/7672011.html
