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Export title unimportant

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-09 08:00

China should change its export model as its export volumes keep growing, says an article in Guangming Daily website. The following is an excerpt:

Related readings:  Wenzhou feels the export blues  Survey: Export of mechanical and electrical products slows  China raises garment, textile export tax rebate rate  China auto export slows down as demand falls

Germany's world No 1 exporter status is being challenged by a fast-growing China. Statistics from the European country indicate its export volume in November 2008 was 11.8 percent lower than the same period the previous year, the largest such decline in 15 years.

German media are paying increasing attention over the past few years to the so-called chase from China for the top exporting nation title. Several outlets have run stories saying China will surpass Germany as the world's largest exporter this year, if its current growth rates don't drop drastically.

But Chinese experts say this obscures a bigger issue. China's exports still lag far behind Germany's in terms of technological capacity and quality levels. Chinese exports are mainly low value-added compared to most German products. China's rapidly increasing trade volume cannot narrow this gap with Germany in a short period of time.

The emerging Asian nation encounters trade disputes with its trading partners almost every week and several product scandals last year brought the country into the spotlight of international quality censorship and inspection.

The country will still face an uphill slog in these aspects in the near future even if it supplants Germany's as the world's largest exporter.

China's manufacturing industry is No 1 in the world by volume when it comes to textiles, shoes and toys but anti-dumping measures adopted by some Western countries and increasing labor costs pose huge hurdles for further development of the country's labor-intensive manufacturing industry.

China's export growth still relies on huge consumption of resources, manpower and energy and produces a lot of emissions.

China may overtake Germany and become the world's exporting champion this year or next year but it is more important for the country to step up its economic structural adjustments and develop a science and technology-driven economy.