China has overtaken the U.S. to become the world's biggest exporter of IT and communications equipment and is increasingly sourcing components from its Asian neighbors at the expense of U.S. and European companies, a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Dec. 12.
The OECD said that Chinese exports of information and communications technology -- mobile phones, lap tops and digital cameras, for example -- totaled US$180 billion in 2004, while U.S. exports were valued at $149 billion.
In 2003, Chinese exports of $123 billion dollars had trailed exports worth $137 billion from the U.S. The study also revealed that trade among Asian nations had resulted in a decline in imports of ICT products from Europe and the US, as well as a fall in imports of electrical components from outside of Asia. "To manufacture laptops and advanced mobile phones, China previously relied on electronic components such as computer chips imported from the EU and U.S.," the OECD said. "These are now also being increasingly sourced from other Asian countries."
China now supplies 27% of U.S. imports of ICT equipment, an increase from its share of 10% in 2000, the OECD said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005
