Australia is running its first $50 billion trade surplus with exports out of Western Australia to China soaring to record heights. Figures from the Bureau of Statistics confirmed that China was now more important to Australia than Japan was during the 1980s.
In March, Australia exported a record $9.5 billion in goods to China, the vast majority of which was iron ore.
During the first nine months of the 2013-14 financial year, Australia had a $36.9 billion surplus with China. By the end of the financial year it will peak at more than $50 billion. Total Australian exports to China have so far this financial year increased by a third to soar through the $100 billion mark.
China accounts for a record 36.7 per cent of Australian exports. The big hike in exports came despite an easing in the iron ore price which is now just below $US106 a tonne.
