China increased its imports of Australian products by 12 percent in 2002/03 from a year earlier as bilateral trade ties strengthened despite a tough year in which total Australian merchandise exports fell six percent, a government report said on Monday.
The increased trade came as resource-rich Australia boosts economic ties with China, the world's fastest growing economy, which is seeking increasing imports of raw materials and signed a trade and economic framework with Australia last year.
In its annual report on primary and manufactured product exports, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said exports to China in the year to June 30, 2003, rose 12 percent to A$8.7 billion ($6.8 billion), bucking an overall downward trend.
"Subdued economic growth in many of our major trading partners, the drought, and the appreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar saw the value of Australia's merchandise exports in 2002/03 fall by six percent to A$106.8 billion," the department said in a statement.
Australia is a major supplier of iron ore, wool and crude petroleum to China, more than doubling its exports to the huge market of 1.3 billion people in the past four years.
Imports to Australia from China have also doubled in the past four years, boosting two-way trade to about A$21.6 billion.
Australia bought manufactured goods worth A$12.9 billion from China in 2002/03, representing 11.7 percent of total imports.
Japan remained Australia's largest single export market in 2002/03, taking exports worth A$21.6 billion or 20 percent of all merchandise exports.