Recruiting in China

Chinese officials say the country's exports surged in December to edge out Germany as the world's biggest exporter.

The official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday that figures from the General Administration for Customs showed that exports jumped 17.7 percent in December from a year earlier.

Huang Guohua, a statistics official with the customs administration, said the December exports rebound was an important turning point for China's export sector.

Huang added that the jump was an indication that exporters have emerged from their downslide.

However, although China overtook Germany in exports, China's total foreign trade -- both exports and imports -- fell 13.9 percent in 2009.