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China becomes top trader with California in 2002: Report
Los Angeles, May 20: China was California`s top trading partner last year, as the value of goods flowing through the state`s air and seaports eclipsed that of goods traded with Japan for the first time, a trade group said.
The state had about $1.6 billion more in trade with China than Japan, reflecting China's growing stature as a manufacturing giant and its economic ties with California, particularly Southern California, said George Huang, an economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
More than $54 billion in goods were imported from China through California last year, compared with more than $41 billion in imports from Japan, Huang said Monday. Nearly $20 billion in exports flowed through the state to Japan in 2002, compared with only about $9 billion going to China.
Los Angeles-area ports benefited most from the surge, as trade value with China grew 22.5 percent to $55 billion, compared with an 8.1 percent drop in trade with Japan for $41.9 billion.
But it wasn't a good trade year overall for California, as the lingering effects of the weak technology sector helped push the state's trade value down 3.2 percent to $330.4 billion, the report said. Bureau Report