Foreign trade - A pillar in China's economy

Export, investment, and consumption are described as China's three powers fueling staggering economic growth over the past decades. Foreign trade has been a pillar in the national economy.

In 2008, import and export volumes accounted for nearly 60 percent of the country's GDP. And thanks to growth in foreign trade, the country has gone from suffering a trade deficit to enjoying a trade surplus. In 1995, the trade surplus first topped 10 billion US dollars. And it took just 10 years for that figure to expand to 100 billion. The trade surplus went on to top 200 billion in 2007, and was close to 300 billion in 2008.

Fast growth in trade has also boosted China's foreign exchange reserves. China has developed from a country short on forex reserves to one that now holds the world's largest such reserves. In 1990, 1996, and 2006 China's forex reserve topped 10 billion, 100 billion, and one trillion US dollars respectively. The first half of this year saw the total go as high as two trillion dollars.