China to overtake US as main recipient of German electric exports

A ten-year market survey by the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers\' Association (ZVEI) revealed Monday China had become more and more important as an importer of German goods in the sector over the past decade.

The study said German electrical companies posted an overall export volume of 158.3 billion euros ($218.1 billion) in 2013, compared with 128.6 billion euros back in 2004.

Last year, exports to China surged to 13.1 billion euros, just below the 11.2 billion euros worth of electrical and electronic goods shipped to the United States, with ZVEI expecting the Asian nation to overtake the US in the course of this year for the first time.

Reshuffle at the top

Back in 2004, the top export market for German firms in the sector was France, followed by Britain and the US, the study said.

But while France had continued importing an almost unchanged volume of 11.5 billion euros annually, it had dropped to third place by 2013 because of German companies' far bigger overall exports.

ZVEI noted the current three importers accounted for over a quarter of German exports, with another 30 percent going to the UK, Austria, the Netherlands and seven other mainly European nations.