European exports to China for 2009 up at record high

The European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg has said that China was the only one of the euro area's main trading partners to increase imports from the region last year with exports to China from the Euro-area rising 4 per cent in 2009. The increase compares to the fact that exports from the 16-nation region to the US and the UK, the euro area's biggest trade partners, declined about 20 per cent, and exports overall fell 18 per cent.

China's imports from Europe rose to a record 68.5 billion euros ($93.7 billion) even as European leaders mounted pressure on the Chinese government over currency valuation and continued battling Beijing over anti-dumping measures.

China's economy expanded 8.7 per cent last year and growth is likely to touch the 10 per cent mark this year, the International Monetary Fund said in January. By contrast, IMF has forecast growth of 2.7 per cent this year for the US economy and a meagre one per cent for the euro region.

It's forecast overall for the global economy is 3.9 per cent for 2010.

Exports from the euro region have received a boost from a weakened euro, which has declined 4.5 per cent since the end of 2009. Exports are being looked upon as the main driver for any revival of the euro-area economy, which is struggling to gain traction after expanding just 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter.