The Danish export to China was increased by 17 percent in 2010, and in the last five years the export has more than doubled. In 2010, Chinese consumers and companies bought goods imported from Denmark worth 2,6 billion US Dollars, which is an increase of 17 percent compared to the year before.
It’s the biggest level of export ever to China, and China is now the ninth biggest export market for Denmark. Since 2005 the Danish export to China has more than doubled.
“There has been a really positive development in the trade level between Denmark and China in the last couple of years. The import from China to Denmark has been relatively big for years, but in the last couple of years the economic growth in China has lead to increasing Danish export. We expect that this development will continue in the years to come to the benefit of both countries,” says Chief Economist from the Danish Trade Council, Jacob Warburg.
The most important group of export goods in 2010 was machines and accessories to the manufacturing industry worth 420 million US Dollars. The export of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by 20 percent amounting to 340 million US Dollars.
The progress for Danish pharmaceutical companies in China is for the most part caused by the Chinese market for pharmaceutical products is experiencing annual growth rates of 25-30 percent.
The biggest Danish pharmaceudical company in China is NovoNordisk, and several other companies such as Lundbeck, Leo Pharma, Medical Divices, DAKO and IVD are doing very well in China.
The export level only tells part of the truth about the Danish trade with China. Today, about 400 Danish companies are located in China, and a big part of them are production companies selling their products in China or exporting them from China. Since the products never cross the Danish border they are not included in the Danish export to China.
Denmark’s Ambassador to China, Friis Arne Petersen, stresses the point that the record high export level to China shows that Danish companies is keeping up with globalization.
“The increased export to China shows that Danish companies can produce the products that the Chinese populations demands. The new numbers are really uplifting, since even though the Chinese market is difficult and the competition is constantly increasing, Danish companies doing well. Denmark’s commercial commitment in China goes beyond export. Many Danish companies are located in China and are achieving impressive growth rates. These activities are not visible in the export numbers,” says Friis Arne Petersen.
He adds that the Danish performance is even more remarkable given that many countries in the world are still struggling to get back to higher growth patterns follow the global recession.
At the same time the import from China to Denmark increased by 25 percent amounting to 6,9 billion US Dollars in 2010. Import of clothing made up one quarter of the total import.
