China has become the major engine of world trade growth in the year just gone, contributing 12 percent.

The Ministry of Commerce says this figure is 0.3 percent higher than the previous year.

In the first 11 months of 2004, the country's foreign trade reached a record high of one trillion US dollars. This is up ten times in the last 16 years.

The World Trade Organization says the United States took 20 years to raise its export volume by this much and Germany took 26 years.

Source: CRI news