China's auto exports doubled to 300,000 units in 2006, exceeding its imports
for the second year in a row, according to the Customs figures
yesterday.
Auto imports reached 229,000 units in 2006, up 40.7 percent year-on-year.
Steel exports hit a record high in 2006
despite government cooling measures and anti-dumping investigations launched by trade partners. China
exported 43.01 million tons of steel in 2006, up 109.6 percent year-on-year,
while imports dropped 28.3 percent to 18.51 million tons.
China's booming
steel exports have long been blamed for trade friction. Steel producers in the
United States appealed to US trade officials twice last year, demanding action
to counter China's alleged subsidies to its steel manufacturers.
To ease
tensions and to slow the production of energy- and resource-intensive products,
the government cut the export tax rebate rate of steel products three times
since last year, and ended subsidies to steel producers.
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