The United States, replacing Japan, became the largest export market of east China's Shandong province in 2005, said the province's foreign economic and trade department.

According to statistics, the province's import and export volume reached 76.8 billion U.S. dollars, up by 26.5 percent over the previous year.

With an increase of 29 percent, the export volume stood at 46.2 billion dollars, and the import volume rose by 22.9 percent to hit 30.6 billion dollars, both tripling that of the year 2001.

In the past year, the province's export to the United States and the European Union (EU) both jumped to a higher ranking. The United States took the lead by occupying 20 percent of the total exports, 1.5 percent higher than Japan.

The export to EU exceeds that to the Republic of Korea (ROK), accounting for 16.5 percent of the total. The ROK and ASEAN markets took fourth and fifth place with 14.2 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.

The major export items were mechanical and electrical products, textiled and garments, agricultural products and hi-technology products, said department director Zhou Jiabing.

Source: Xinhua