EU becomes China's largest trading partner

The European Union has quietly overtaken the US and once again become China's largest trading partner as the US and China debate over trade and exchange rates, the US news weekly reported September 18. The EU's trade with China has soared to $306 billion trillion (2.0578 trillion yuan) as of July this year, according to a statistical report by the Council's Foreign Relations Committee, while US and Chinese trade amounted to $243 billion trillion (1.6342 trillion yuan) in the same period.　　The European Council's Foreign Relations Committee says China has changed its foreign exchange reserves worth 2.7 trillion dollars (18 trillion yuan) to the euro. China has become more reliant on Europe for imports of technology, infrastructure, machinery and high-end consumer goods, while big European companies have been successful in the Chinese market, such as VW's sales of more than 2 million vehicles in China in 2010; Italian companies have successfully entered the luxury market , German companies into the rapid development of the high-end nano-fiber market. The EU's exports to China are soaring at an annual rate of 49% per cent, and exporters are benefiting from it.　　China is also busy buying European businesses and ports. Notably, Europeans are less worried about China's economic growth than half the US. In 2009, the EU and China trade deficits accounted for only 1.1% of GDP, while the US accounted for 1.6%. Europe's big jobs depend on international trade, the export sector creates 55% of GDP, and the US accounts for only 11%, so Europe is far less fearful of trading with China than the US.