China to Become U.S. Third Largest Export Market

China has been serving as the fastest growing export destination of the United States for five consecutive years,Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said here Thursday.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the third largest export market of the United States at the end of this year or early next year, he said.

China.s foreign trade value reached 1.17 trillion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of 2007, a year-on-year increase of 24.4percent, according to customs sources.

The European Union remained its largest partner with a trade value of 190.1 billion dollars, a growth of 28.5 percent over the same period of last year, followed by the United States with 167 billion dollars, up 17.5 percent, and Japan with 130 billion dollars, up 15.2 percent.