China displaced Japan as Canada's third largest export market in 2007, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Canada's overseas exports rose for the fifth consecutive year, increasing 17.4% last year. But the country's merchandise trade surplus with the rest of the world fell to its lowest level since 1999: $49.5 billion.
Merchandise exports increased 2.1% to $465.2 billion; imports rose 2.8% to $415.8 billion.
Exports to China represented almost 20% of the growth in Canada's 2007 exports.
According to StatsCan, Canada's trade also grew with Britain and Norway.
Countries other than the U.S. represented more than 20% of Canada's export market in 2007. Imports from countries other than the U.S. also increased to more than 45% of Canada's total due to an increase in shipments from Mexico and China.
Canadian merchandise imports and exports reached record highs in 2007.