BEIJING, Feb 7: Growth in Chinese toy exports slowed sharply last year as the global economic crisis hit demand, state media said on Saturday, citing customs figures.

Exports rose by 1.8 per cent to reach $8.63 billion in 2008, well down from the 20.3 per cent growth recorded in 2007, the Xinhua news agency said.

China accounts for 60 per cent of the world’s toy production but has been hard hit by the slowdown in its main markets in the West, and almost half its toy companies have been forced to close, the customs department said“Toys are not a life necessity, so people’s demand for that kind of product declined in the face of a grim economic situation,” it said in a report.

The slowdown has been exacerbated by a series of safety scandals that have hit China’s toy industry in recent years, the report said.

The United States and European Union countries buy two-thirds of all exported Chinese toys.

Chinese toy exports to the United States rose 3.1 per cent last year, well down on 2007’s 14.2 per cent, while sales to EU countries increased 9.3 per cent, against 21.1 per cent.—AFP