Shipments to mainland growing much faster than to other major destinations

The United States exported more than $100 billion in goods and services to China in 2011 and 30 states now count the country as one of their top three export markets.

That's according to a report released by the Washington-based US-China Business Council on Wednesday.

The annual report said China is the third most common destination for US exports, just behind Canada and Mexico, which border the US and have a free-trade agreement with it.

"Exports to China are vital to America's economic health and create good jobs for American workers," said Erin Ennis, vice-president of the US-China Business Council, which represents about 240 American companies doing business in China.

Wang Haifeng, director of international economics at the Institute for International Economic Research, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, said the export figures reveal a great opportunity.

"The fact that a record was set in US exports to China, which shows the great potential of US exports, not only reduces the trade imbalance between the top two economies but also alleviates unemployment in the US and speeds up the US' economic recovery," he said.

Between 2000 and 2011, US exports to China rose by 542 percent - going from $16.2 billion in 2000 to a record $103.9 billion in 2011 - while its exports to the rest of the world only increased by 80 percent. After the recent recession, the US exports to China regained momentum faster than the country's exports to any other place in the world, the council said.