Darrel Whitten

Japan's Economic Miracles: Next One Coming Soon?

Greater China (including Hong Kong) surpassed the US as China's greatest trading partner way back in 2004, accounting for 20.1% of Japan's trade versus 19% for the US. In 2007, China excluding Hong Kong surpassed the US as Japan's largest trading partner.
It is also the largest importer of Japanese goods.

Moreover, China was responsible for 38% of Japan's economic growth in 2002, but this surged to 68% in 2006.

While a good deal of China's output is exported to the the US and Europe, Japan has become a major export market as well. Thus while it can be argued that a good deal of Japan's exports to China are simply re-exported to the US and Europe, let's put the myth to bed that the US is still Japan's largest trading partner.