Dragon Racing

AFTER PULLING EVEN WITH the United States last year in manufactured exports, China, whose symbol is the red dragon, this year "will almost certainly" surpass

According to Preeg's calculations, China exported $713 billion worth of manufactured goods in 2005, a catalog that predictably included such low-tech products as footwear and textiles and apparel, but more importantly also featured higher-tech goods such as office equipment and telecommunications equipment. Indeed, among China's six largest manufacturing export sectors in 2005, export growth among higher-tech goods-which included electrical machinery, non-electronics machinery and chemicals in addition to office and telecommunications equipment-was greater in percentage terms than for textiles and apparel. Exports of textiles and apparel grew 21% to $115.3 billion while export growth ranged from 26% to 29% among higher-tech goods; exports of higher-tech goods totaled $360 billion. "The picture that emerges is a global competition in trade in manufactures dominated by the EU, China, and the United States, with Japan in a strong fourth position, followed by South Korea, and with [these] 'big five' together accounting for two-thirds of global exports of manufactures."