Economy

China No 1 destination of Italian goods, says junior minister

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-17 11:15

ROME - China has superseded Japan becoming the number one import country of Made-in-Italy products, Italian Junior Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso said Monday.

Urso said that in the first six months of this year exports of Italian products to China has risen by 23 percent while exports to Japan by just 2 percent, ANSA news agency reported.

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According to the minister, the data demonstrated that Italian firms were ever more looking towards China as a new market destination for their goods, despite acknowledging that Japan had severely suffered from the economic turmoil.

Looking at Italy's market shares in China, Urso noted that"we have gone from 1.7 percent to 2.3 percent."

The sector that most benefited from a rise in Chinese demand was one of Italian processing machines. On the other hand demand in Japan remained high of Italian agro-food products, fashion, clothing and furniture.