Cologne, Germany  - Germany has clung for one more year to its status as the world's biggest exporter, repelling a strong challenge from China, a government think tank in Cologne said Tuesday.

The BFAI, which researches and sells foreign trade data, had earlier predicted that fast-growing China would overtake Germany in the course of this year.

But it said Tuesday the Chinese had been caught out by currency fluctuations triggered by the sub-prime crisis in the United States and no longer stood any chance of surpassing Germany for the year as a whole.

In the first quarter of the year, US exports exceeded those of China as the world took advantage of the low dollar to buy US goods cheap. But the BFAI forecast Chinese exports for the full year would top those from the United States.

The BFAI (federal agency for foreign trade) reports are seen as authoritative because its economists draw on a wide range of data. It advises German companies on how to increase their exports.

It said German exports in the first quarter surged year-on-year by 21 per cent in dollar terms to 379.1 billion dollars, while Chinese exports gained 21.4 per cent to 306.1 billion dollars. It estimated US exports in the quarter at 320.4 billion dollars. (dpa)