Top Chinese Trade Partners in 2009

Apr 27, 2011
Daniel Workman

China's Trade Partners in 2009 Winners and Losers - nurbis (morgueFile)

Some of China's leading trade partners made commendable progress trading with the Chinese in an otherwise gloomy 2009.

China is undisputedly a titan in international trade.

However, even the People’s Republic experienced significant setbacks during 2009 – the latest year for which trade statistics are currently available from the United Nations Comtrade database.

In 2009, China's exports fell by 16% to US$1.201 trillion from $1.43 trillion one year earlier. Chinese imports dropped by 11.2% to $1.006 trillion from $1.133 trillion in 2008.

The net effect of the severe global recession in 2009 was that China’s trade surplus shrank by over a third, from $298.1 billion to $196.1 billion.

Below are China’s top trade partners in 2009 for both exports and imports.

Top 10 Countries for China’s Exports

The following countries consumed 49.2% of China’s total exports during 2009.

United States … US$221.3 billion, down 12.5% from 2008 (18.4% of total Chinese exports)
Japan … $97.9 billion, down 15.7% (8.1% of total)
South Korea … $53.7 billion, down 27.4% (4.5% of total)
Germany … $49.9 billion, down 15.7% (4.2% of total)
Netherlands … $36.7 billion, down 20.1% (3.1% of total)
United Kingdom … $31.3 billion, down 13.3% (2.6% of total)
Singapore … $30.1 billion, down 6.9% (2.5% of total)
India … $29.7 billion, down 6.1% (2.5% of total)
Australia … $20.6 billion, down 7.2% (1.7% of total)
Malaysia … $19.6 billion, down 8.5% (1.6% of total).

China’s export sales slowed for all top 10 of its trade partners, with 7 showing double-digit losses. South Korea experienced the greatest decrease at 27.4%, followed by Netherlands at 20.1%.

Top 10 Trade Partners Supplying Imports to China

The following trade partners provided 52.8% of total Chinese imports during 2009.

Japan … US$130.9 billion, down 13.1% from 2008 (13% of total Chinese imports)
South Korea … $102.6 billion, down 8.5% (10.2% of total)
United States … $77.8 billion, down 4.7% (7.7% of total)
Germany … $55.8 billion, down 0.04% (5.5% of total)
Australia … $39.4 billion, up 5.4% (3.9% of total)
Malaysia … $32.3 billion, up 0.7% (3.2% of total)
Brazil … $28.3 billion, down 5.3% (2.8% of total)
Thailand … $24.9 billion, down 3% (2.5% of total)
Russia … $21.3 billion, down 10.7% (2.1% of total)
Singapore … $17.8 billion, down 11.8% (1.8% of total).

Led by Australia’s 5.4% gain, only two countries were able to grow their sales to China. Germany’s exports to the People’s Republic were almost the same, while the remaining 7 countries posted decreases ranging from 3% for Thailand to a 13.1% slowdown for imported Japanese goods.

Winners from Chinese Trade in 2009

Although overall exports and imports were down for most of China's top trade partners, there was some good news.

The United States was able to reduce its trade deficit with China by 16.2% to $143.5 billion. In comparison, Canada whittled down its trade deficit with the People’s Republic by 38.1% to $5.6 billion.

Germany turned a $3.4 billion deficit in 2008 into a $5.8 billion surplus with China in 2009.

But perhaps the biggest winners trading with the Chinese during 2009 were Brazil and South Korea.

Brazil’s trade surplus rose 28.1% to $14.2 billion, while South Korea’s trade surplus was up 27.9% to $48.9 billion.