Fueled by China, Finnish trade with developing countries surpassed all records last year, according to statistics by Finnish Customs on Monday.

In 2006, Finnish imports from developing countries grew to 9.1 billion euros (some 12.3 billion U.S. dollars), 37 percent higher than in 2005. Meanwhile, exports to the developing world in 2006 were at 9.6 billion euros, which is 15 percent higher than in 2005.

The trade balance surplus shrunk to about 485 million euros, less than a third of what it was in 2005. The diminishing trade gap between imports and exports is rooted in China becoming one of the top countries exporting to Finland.

According to Finnish Customs, China's share of developing economy imports to Finland last year stood at 45 percent. The value of imports from China surpassed four billion euros. In the same year, China was also Finland's main export target within the developing world. The value of exports from Finland to China grew by 27 percent to a record two billion euros.