See footnotes at end of table.240 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
 
TRADE 
 
 China's exports and imports totaled 45,300 million yuan last year, 29.2%
higher than in 1978, the Ministry of Foreign Trade reported. Exports, led
by a strong increase in the sale of heavy industrial goods, totaled 21,200
million yuan, an increase of 26.6%. Imports totaled 24,100 million yuan,
an increase of 31.6%. The rise in sale of heavy industrial goods over 1978
was 59%, which accounted for 32.1% of the total increase in exports. Items
included petroleum, hardware, chemicals, minerals, machinery, and equipment.
Export of light industrial goods increased by 23.2%, and agricultural and
sideline produce rose 1.9%. Because of the rise in the sale of heavy industrial
goods, however, the proportion of agricultural products to the total export
value decreased. Among imports, new technologies and complete plants went
up 190% over 1978, accounting for 14.7% of the total. Consumer goods rose
40%. Materials for agricultural use increased by 18.4%, and raw materials
for light industry, 12.9%. Meanwhile, the Ministry reported, imports of rolled
steel, aluminum, pig iron, and iron ore were reduced. To increase its foreign
trade, China built export commodity centers, plants, and workshops and has
tapped increasing numbers of resources for possible export. In 1979, the
value of all industrial, agricultural, and other goods purchased for export
ran to 29,600 million yuan, a rise of 32% over the previous year.7 
 With a headstart, Japan developed $5 billion worth of annual trade with
China in a little over 5 years. Japan's two-way trade with China in 1978
reached $5.08 billion, with Japanese exports to China worth $3.05 billion
and Japanese imports from China worth $2.03 billion. Machinery shipments
to China trebled the 1977 level, and steel shipments in 1978 surpassed 5
million tons. To assure steel supplies needed for construction, Japanese
steelmakers have signed a 3year pact to furnish China with a total of 15
million tons. Chinese demand for seamless pipes for oil distribution is so
strong that 
the country was considering investing in additional pipemaking facilities
within Japan. Considerable quantities of Japanese fertilizers go to China,
although their combined value is not great. China's most important single
export item to Japan in 1978 continued to be petroleum, valued at roughly
$900 million. Japanese exports to China rose 21.3% over 1978 despite a sharp
drop in steel shipments, whereas Japanese imports from China increased 45.5%,
mainly because of the spectacular growth in fuel prices. 
 China's trade with other countries was also on the rise. In early 1978,
a general trade pact was signed with the European Community countries to
expand trade and afford China favorable treatment. As a result, two-way trade
with Western Europe increased at least $1 billion in 1979 over the $2.5 billion
figure in 1978. The British and the Chinese agreed in principle to sharply
boost bilateral trade from the current level of $400 million per year to
$10 billion by 1985, and signed a nonferrous metals trading agreement on
January 30, 1979, which related not only to marketing but possibly also to
mineral development in the future.8 China and France signed a 7-year trade
agreement of almost $14 billion. The Federal Republic of Germany concentrated
on trying to sell metal plants, chemical facilities, and coal mine development
in substantial deals. Various industrial and trade agreements involve Great
Britain, China, and Hong Kong. China may have earned as much as $2 billion
from its exports to Hong Kong during 1978 and $2.4 billion in the first 10
months of 1979. Two-way U.S.-China trade was over $1.1 billion in 1978, and
over $2 billion in 1979. This trade can further blossom under the right conditions,
but developing specific exports to the United States may be difficult. So
far, China has been paying for the technical services rendered by U.S. firms
mainly by cash, but credits and payments in kind may come into play. 
 
Table 2.—China: Apparent exports of selected mineral commodities1

(Metric tons unless otherwise specified) 
Commodity 19772 1978~ Principal destinations, 1978 
METALS 
Aluminum: 
Bauxite 
 
Alumina 
Metal including aiioys, semimanufactures - - — 
 
 59,719 86,522 Japan 31,785; Italy 28,470; West Ger 
    many 9,543. 
 8,165 10,398 Finland 4,907; Hong Kong 2,380. 
 580 1,324 Hong Kong 1,040; Sudan 218.