China has over $10b tech trade deficit

Despite fast growth in technology exports, China's technology trade is still seeing an average annual deficit of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars, a commerce official said here Thursday.

Zhou Liujun, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference that China's technology trade has seen rapid development since the country's reform and opening-up more than 30 years ago, but imbalance remains in the sector.

China's technology trade volume jumped from 22.61 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 to 53.56 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, said Zhou. In 2011, China imported 12,202 technology contracts worth 32.16 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.43 percent and 25.5 percent year on year, respectively.

More than 70 percent of China's technology import volume comes from developed countries and regions like the United States and the European Union, while exports to the U.S., Japan and China's Hong Kong account for more than 50 percent of the country's technology export volume, according to Zhou.

Chinese technology exporters and importers are mainly located in the country's eastern coastal regions, he added.