Germany loses top exporter crown to China

MATT MOORE and GEIR MOULSON AP 02/10/2010 03:23

BERLIN — Germany's multi-year reign as the world's No. 1 exporter is officially over, with the crown formally passing to rising Asian power China after new figures showed that German exports slid by nearly a fifth in 2009, the biggest decline in 60 years.

Tuesday's German government figures only confirmed an open secret: China's runaway growth and resilience amid the financial crisis put its exports ahead of Germany, which suffered a severe recession before returning to growth in last year's second quarter.

Last month, China's customs agency said that total 2009 exports were more than $1.2 trillion, well ahead of the euro803.2 billion (nearly $1.1 trillion) that Germany reported Tuesday.

For Germany, the figure was a drop of 18.4 percent from 2008, although exports returned to year-on-year growth in December.

"The crisis has accelerated the shift in power in world trade toward the emerging countries," said Anton Boerner, the head of Germany's BGA exporters' association.

However, "the fact that we are passing on the title of world export champion to China doesn't cause us any worries," he added. "The growth of the Chinese economy will also secure our growth and jobs in Germany for long years."

Boerner noted that in December demand for German products from all parts of the world was up on the year.

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