The Chinese Customs Office reported that the country's exports in May totaled 157 billion dollars. This result represents a record in absolute terms for Chinese exports. The growth, over the last year same period, would amount to 19.4%. Approximately, 95% of total exports refers to manufactured products, especially in the textile and energy sectors: in particular, about 50% is due to machinery and transport equipment, 20% to rubber products, minerals and metallurgical products, 5% to industrial chemicals and the residual part to a mix of other industrial products. Marginal is the contribution from primary sector products, among which mineral fuels are particularly relevant.

Despite the unprecedented size reached by the phenomenon, China's imports have reported, in the same month, an even higher growth, at 28.4% compared to the same figure reported in the previous year, reaching around 144 billion dollars. In reference to the composition of imports of China, 70% of the total relates to manufactured products, in which the more weight is covered by machinery and transport equipment in the textile and energy; however, the contribution made by the products of the primary sector is experiencing a rapid and sustained growth (the voice weighed for 23% of the total in 2006, and today it stands at around 34%). Among these products, we highlight in particular raw materials and mineral fuels (for detailed information, consult the websites of the Chinese Customs, http://english.customs.gov.cn/, and the National Bureau of Statistics of China, www.stats.gov.cn). The rapid expansion of imports in May could allay the fears of a possible global slowdown, after Beijing took over, since last fall 2010, a series of measures which led, inter alia, to the slower expansion of manufacturing activities (www.ilsole24ore.it) .