According to The PRC ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operations, Japan was China's number one trading partner in 1998,
with an total trade volumn of USD57.899 Billion. Export to Japan
dropped 6.7% to USD 29.692 billion while import dropped by 2.7% to 28.207 billion. It can be easily seen that in both 1997 and 1998, China
was running a trade surplus.
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operations. PRC.
http://www.moftec.gov.cn/moftec/official/html/statistics_data/e98-01-12b.htm
Related link: China's Import and Export with The 15 Biggest Trading Partners 1998
