China's evolving trade composition

Abstract

This chapter discusses China's trade composition. The share of manufacturing in China's merchandise exports, for instance, grew from 30 per cent in the mid-1950s to nearly 50 per cent by the late 1970s. By 1987 that share was two-thirds and it reached 93 per cent by 2011. The share of the textiles and clothing sub-sector over the past 100 years has traced an inverted-U shape, beginning at 6 per cent, gradually rising to 36 per cent in 1987, but then falling rapidly since then to 6 per cent again by 2011. The share of fuel and minerals in China's total merchandise imports has grown from 6 per cent to 24 per cent over the two decades to 2011, while the share of farm products in total imports has declined.