CHINA has emerged as the fourth largest export market for Britain in the past year, analysis of Britain’s government trade figures has revealed.

    Santander Corporate and Commercial is the latest organization to examine latest figures from Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONC).

    According to Santander, China’s mainland became Britain’s sixth largest export market in 2014, after exports grew 12 percent compared to the previous year. That figure meant the Chinese mainland displaced Belgium and Luxembourg in the top 50 export destination for British goods.

    However the ONS counts exports separately to China’s Hong Kong region. In 2014 exports to Hong Kong stood at just under US$10 billion.

    Added together, exports to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, totaling almost US$32 billion, took China to fourth place, ahead of France and Britain’s close neighbor Ireland.(Xinhua)