AP: China Eclipses US as Top Global Trader
AP’s first installment in its “China’s Reach” series of special reports is being picked up around the world:
In just five years, China has surpassed the United States as a trading partner for much of the world, including US allies such as South Korea and Australia, according to an Associated Press analysis of trade data. As recently as 2006, the US was the larger trading partner for 127 countries, versus just 70 for China. By last year the two had clearly traded places: 124 countries for China, 76 for the U.S.
In the most abrupt global shift of its kind since World War II, the trend is changing the way people live and do business from Africa to Arizona, as farmers plant more soybeans to sell to China and students sign up to learn Mandarin.
The findings show how fast China has ascended to challenge America’s century-old status as the globe’s dominant trader, a change that is gradually translating into political influence.
See AP interactive graphics on how quickly China has usurped the US as the dominant trader here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10851800&ref=rss