China is set to overtake Japan this year as America's third-largest export market, an American trade official said Wednesday.

U.S. exports to China grew 36.5 percent in the first five months of the year over the same period in 2005, Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin L. Lavin told reporters during a visit to China's business hub of Shanghai.

"My prediction is, by the end of this year, China will be the United States' third largest export market, surpassing Japan, if this trend continues," Lavin said.

US Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin L. Lavin, right, speaks to foreign and Chinese journalists Wednesday, July 26, 2006 in Shanghai. [AP]

America's top export market is Canada, with Mexico second. China is currently in fourth place, taking in US$41 billion of U.S. exports last year, up 25 percent from 2004.

Lavin said export growth encompassed "everything from soybeans to Boeing," the U.S. aircraft maker, and that continued strong economic growth in China should sustain the trend.

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