MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China became last August world's leading exporter

China last August became the world's leading exporter overtaking Germany, according to information from the World Trade Organization. China's exports totaled 111.4 billion US dollars and the until that moment leader, 105.8 billion.

This is the first time the China manages to overtake Germany. Earlier in the year China had overtaken United States and was in second place. Compared to a year ago the increase is considerable since in August 2006 China exported 72 billion US dollars and Germany 89 billion. However in the first eight months of the year Germany remains ahead with 852 billion US dollars in overseas sales compared to the 766 billion of China. Although Europeans are still confident that Germany will end 2007 as the world's leading exporting country, analysts point out to the 20% growth in Chinese exports. The announcement follows information from China analysts who forecast the Asian largest economy is set to expand more than 11% for a third straight quarter, raising the likelihood of more interest-rate increases to prevent a flood of export cash from fueling asset bubbles. GDP expanded 11.5% in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier, following on the 11.9% in the second quarter. Slower global demand because of a weaker U.S. economy may curb growth of China's trade surplus, helping central banker Zhou Xiaochuan tame the wave of liquidity. China's securities regulator last week warned of "great risks" after the stock market added 2.5 trillion US dollars in market capitalization this year, almost the equivalent of 2006 GDP. China has been the biggest contributor to global growth this year, the International Monetary Fund says.