China Says U.S. Overtakes EU as Its Top Export Market

China said Tuesday that the United States has overtaken the European Union as its biggest export market, as the continent's debt crisis has sent demand slumping.

"The biggest is the U.S. and the EU is second," Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters at a regular briefing, without saying when the reversal occurred. "The EU used to be the biggest," he added.

Chinese customs figures for the first 10 months of this year showed that China's exports to the United States totalled $289.3 billion, while shipments to the EU came to $276.8 billion.