According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest exporter of IT products like computers, laptops, mobile phones and digital cameras.
China's IT-export market grew by 46 percent to more than $180 billion last year -- about $26 billion more than the U.S. (China's figures would have been even larger had the report included data on goods shipped through Hong Kong).
The OECD also found that IT imports into Asia from Europe and the U.S. were on the decline. "To manufacture laptops and advanced mobile phones, China previously relied on electronic components such as computer chips imported from the EU and U.S.," the OECD said. "These are now also being increasingly sourced from other Asian countries."
China's IT-export market grew by 46 percent to more than $180 billion last year -- about $26 billion more than the U.S. (China's figures would have been even larger had the report included data on goods shipped through Hong Kong).
The OECD also found that IT imports into Asia from Europe and the U.S. were on the decline. "To manufacture laptops and advanced mobile phones, China previously relied on electronic components such as computer chips imported from the EU and U.S.," the OECD said. "These are now also being increasingly sourced from other Asian countries."