China displaces Germany as the world's biggest exporter: WTO

Geneva, Switzerland: The World Trade Organization confirmed China's top position in the global markets this Friday, saying it had now overtaken Germany as the world's top exporter. The United States comes in third on the list behind Germany.

While China exported $1.2 trillion worth of goods and services in 2009, Germany's value of  exports added up to $1.12 trillion and the United States came in marginally behind with $1.06 trillion worth, according to a report in The London Times Online.

The report comes even as China fends off increasing attacks from a wide range of nations around the world on the artificial currency peg it maintains with the US dollar. This allows it to undervalue its currency, the yuan or the renminbi, by as much as 20 per cent. Some claim the undervaluation may be as high as 40 per cent.

This allows its exporters the required competitive edge when selling products abroad.

The report also emerges as China tries to maintain an opaque system of governance that does not allow foreign companies easy access to its home markets and creates hurdles in terms of legal systems and preferences that once again provides domestic companies competitive advantages.

Google is only the latest victim of this rigged system of commerce. The US Government is now making inquiries with credit card companies about the kind of barriers they face in China.

It is widely felt that the US is now only a fortnight or so away from declaring China as a currency manipulator - a decision that invites retaliatory tariff action from the US government. China is trying desperately hard to avert this possibility as such an action will be tantamount to declaring trade war.