China has produced its slowest economic growth rate on record, but officials there say the economy performed better than expected.

Chery, one of the top-selling Chinese auto brands, has increased its overseas sales to 40% of its total sales this year and tries to achieve half of its total sales abroad by 2010 , Beijing Business News reported yesterday.

Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor posted exports at 47% of its total sales in the first half this year and expected to see exports equal the domestic sales for the whole year, said the company’s vice president and secretary Bai Xuefei, according to Stockstar News.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced its production, sales and export results for August 2007.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced a summary of automobile production, Japan domestic sales, and export results for the month of August 2007, including an all-time record for overseas and worldwide auto production for the month of August.

Buick will expand its international reach following a four-year agreement signed today by General Motors and Shanghai GM to export up to 25,000 of the brand’s hot-selling Enclave luxury crossover to China beginning in the second half of 2008.

Russian gas exports to Europe fell 12 percent in the first half of 2007 after an unusually warm last winter, Gazprom said.

Beijing on Tuesday criticized new U.S. controls on exports to China of technology with possible military uses, rejecting them as a threat to cooperative relations and efforts to shrink the swollen Chinese trade surplus.

The Commerce Department reported that American Trade deficit sharply decreased to $58.5 billion, as the export figures reached the highest records in April. The decrease totaled to a 6.2 percent compared to March figures.

Assocham has said leather exports from India have the potential to touch USD 8 billion by 2012 from the current USD 3 billion on the back of capacity expansion and increased production by manufacturers.

Australian exporters are being warned about an email scam seeking to defraud them of thousands of dollars.