As the worlds largest IT goods exporter, China has conquered the tech goods territory as well. China has come a long way since the reform process was initiated three decades back. On the international trade front, it is the worlds third largest trading power today. Its emergence as a major international player during this period has not only redefined the global trading system, but has also ensured that this emergence has farreaching economic and political impact on the world.

According to the Parisbased Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China has overtaken the US to become the world's largest exporter of information and communications technology goods. As the producer of laborintensive product segments, it has captured a greater share in the world market. Its forward march on the technology ladder is a unique feature of its economy and a remarkable source of its resilience. This is one of the key drivers behind the country's $100 bnplus trade surplus with the rest of the world and double that figure with the US. China has already become the world's largest producer of mobile phones, PCs and cameras. After the global manufacturing prowess, it is fast becoming a technology superpower. For example, even though only 8% of its people have access to the Internet, in figures that becomes a whopping 100 million people online, second only to the US.

Chinese ICT exports, which consist of laptop computers, mobile phones, and other ICT goods, took the lead from Japan and the EU in 2003 and reached an alltime high in 2004. According to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the output of the whole industry was at 3.3 tn yuan (US$408 bn) in 2005, compared with 2.65 tn yuan (US$328 bn) in 2004. MII predicts that exports will total US$250 bn in 2006, while software sales will be to the tune of 300 bn yuan (US$37 bn). Official figures show China signed technology transfer contracts worth 720 mn yuan with the US in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 2.73 bn yuan with Japan and 2.52 bn yuan with Europe during this period.

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