China says may be world's No.2 exporter this year

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) China is on track to overtake the United States as the world's second-largest exporter this year, Xinhua news agency quoted a senior official as saying on Saturday, and could top Germany as the world's leading exporter next year.

Vice Minister of Commerce Yu Guangzhou told the China Economic Development Forum that China currently ranks third in export volume after Germany and the United States.

He said Beijing could overtake the U.S. by the year-end if current trade trends continue, Xinhua reported.

In 2006, China's export volume trailed U.S. exports by less than billion, while the pace of export growth was 7 percentage points faster than that of the U.S.

If that growth continues, China's exports could exceed U.S.

exports by billion this year, Yu said.

However, Beijing's national safety watchdog has warned that China's failure to improve the quality of some of its exported goods was undermining its trade strength.

Concern over potentially tainted products made in China has resulted in recalls or bans on such goods -- from Chinese toothpaste to toys and pet food.

''We may have entered the ranks of the big traders, but we're still far, far from being a strong trade power, and the fundamental reason is that our product quality competitiveness is not strong,'' Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration for Quality Supervision and Quarantine, was quoted as saying by the official People's Daily on Thursday.

In terms of total foreign trade volume, China may surpass Germany to become the world's No.2 this year or next, with only the United States ahead, according to the Xinhua report.

Customs statistics show that China's foreign trade volume reached 0.9 billion in January-June, up 23.3 percent from the same period a year ago.

Of this, exports grew 27.6 percent to 6.7 billion, and imports grew 18.2 percent to 4.2 billion.

REUTERS SRS RK1931