China's exports for the Christmas season have taken a hit amid the financial crisis, the General Administration of Customs said on Thursday.

Christmas commodities come into view in a market of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, in this picture taken on December 16, 2008. China's exports for the Christmas season have taken a hit amid the financial crisis, the General Administration of Customs said on Dec. 18.

From January to October, Christmas-related exports stood at US$1.64 billion, up just 8.3 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 32 percentage points below the year-earlier level.

In the July-October period, when exports for Christmas usually peak, China exported US$1.28 billion worth of such goods, up 3.6 percent. The growth rate was down 38.9 percentage points.

Of the total, 46.1 percent, or US$590 million, went to the United States in the four-month period, down 2.8 percent. In 2007, the year-on-year change was up 39.3 percent.

The United States and the European Union are major markets for China's Christmas-related exports. The two markets accounted for 76.8 percent of China's total in the first 10 months of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2008)