US overtakes Europe to become biggest importer of Chinese goods.

US overtakes Europe to become biggest importer of Chinese goods.(HD).China said yesterday that the United States has overtaken the European Union as its biggest export market, as the continent’s debt crisis has sent demand slumping.
“The biggest is the US and the EU is second,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters at a regular briefing, without saying when the reversal occurred. “The EU used to be the biggest,” he added.
Chinese customs figures for the first 10 months of this year showed that China’s exports to the United States totalled $289.3 billion, while shipments to the EU came to $276.8 billion.
Weak demand from both Europe and the US has been a big factor as China’s economic growth has slowed over the past seven quarters to the end of September.
Economic growth in the United States remains weak but is expanding, while the eurozone’s debilitating debt crisis has dragged it back into recession.
Shen noted that China will probably miss its full year target of 10 percent foreign trade growth this year due to sluggish overseas demand, particularly in Europe and Japan.
“The international economic situation this year has been severe and complicated. There have been many uncertainties, with slack foreign demand being the most severe one,” he said.
“It will be indeed very difficult to achieve this year’s 10-percent target for trade growth,” he said, yet added it was premature to conclude what the full year increase would turn out to be.”
Shen also said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had moved past Japan as China’s third-biggest export market.Hmmmm.......OBAMA: America remains the one indispensable nation. And the world needs a strong America, and it is stronger now than when I came into office.Read the full story here.