construction materials and machinery. The chief Chinese exports are to be crude oil (deliveries to rise from 7 million tons in 1978 to 15 million tons in 1982) and coal ("sample" deliveries in 1978 rising to 2 million tons of coking coal and 1.5-1.7 million tons of steam coal in 1982).
Trade with West Europe as a whole fell in 1976, although trade with the EEC (which accounts for 86 per cent of the European total) remained at the same level as 1975 at $2,330 million, or 18.5 per cent of total turnover. Only with West Germany did both exports and imports increase in 1976, and overall China reduced her deficit with the EEC by over $200 million. In 1977, China's interest in closer links with West Europe was highlighted by the visit of Foreign Trade Minister Li Chiang to the UK and France. A delegation from the Bank of China also visited a number of West European countries during the year. They investigated the range of international credit available, including types not formerly used by China. In January 1978, France and China signed a "framework" scientific and technical cooperation agreement, the first of its kind between China and any Western country. The agreement, concluded during the French Prime Minister's official visit to China, covered joint studies and projects in animal genetics, pharmacology, computer technology, telecommunications and geological exploration.
The following month, China and the EEC initialled a five-year non-preferential trade agreement. China undertook to give specially favourable consideration to imports from the EEC, and the EEC promised to liberalise imports from China. The two sides also agreed to aim at a trade balance. This was the first trade agreement between the EEC and China, or between the EEC and any Communist country except Yugoslavia.
China's imports from the UK declined by 30 per cent in 1976 and exports to the UK were $34 million higher than imports. As in 1975, products of the aerospace industry accounted for over 40 per cent of imports while the overall decline in imports was accounted for by the absence of significant quantities of aluminium, mining equipment and diamonds which featured in previous years. Britain fell further behind her major European competitors, moving from 9th to 10th place among China's non-Communist trading partners. Italy moved ahead, and West German exports were five times as much as those of the UK.
For the first time since trade relations re-opened in the early 1970s, China showed a surplus in trade with the US in 1976, primarily because the delivery of complete fertiliser plants finished in the first half of the year. Sino-Canadian trade also fell as Canadian wheat exports were reduced by about half. China maintained her usual trade surplus with the developing world, apart from Latin America, though even here she reduced her deficit to $50 million. China's trade surplus with the developing world outside Asia is now close to $500 million.
Hong Kong increased its economic importance to China, providing about one-third of total earnings of convertible currency in 1976. China's trade surplus with Hong Kong totalled over $1,000 million and was clearly critical for the Chinese balance of payments. In addition, Hong Kong's role as an entrepot increased with the value of Chinese exports passing through the Colony; this rose from $350 million in 1975 to $500 million in 1976. Trade with other Asian countries, apart from Thailand and the Philippines, followed the overall pattern of decline in both exports. and imports. Imports of Australian sugar quadrupled. The trade deficits with Singapore and Malaysia continued at about the same level,
-6-
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.