The two figures illustrate the total monetary worth of merchandise imported and exported between China and Australia from 1998 to 2004 and the various types of products imported from China in 2003 and 2004.
Overall, the first diagram reflects a progressive climb in the values of commodities Australia and China traded with each other, while the second diagram shows a noticeable surge in total values in 2004 for most of the items compared to last year.
From 1998 to 2004, the price of goods imported from China exhibited a progressive incline, escalating from $20 billion in 1998 to $40 billion in 2004. The monetary value of commodities exported from Australia also constantly improved, from $10 billion in 1998 to $26 billion in 2004. Noticeably, the margin between these values fluctuated between $3 billion and $5 billion.
In examining the classifications of goods imported from China in 2003 and 2004, there were many differences in the values of certain products for both years. Clothing products had no changes in value, maintaining $3.8 billion in both years. The value of imported computers and imported furniture had moderate changes, from $4.3 billion and $4.9 billion in 2003 to $6 billion and $6 billion in 2004, respectively. The purchased toys and telecom goods saw the sharpest increase, from $2 billion and $2.7 billion in 2003 to $7 billion and $8 billion in the next year, respectively.