After a couple of years writing stories about China's growth rate slowing down, today I'm here with a real "decline" story.

China's export of processed plastic products dipped 1.4 percent in the first half of 2008, according to latest data from the China Customs.

The Customs noted a few important factors in play: the cutback of export tax rebate last summer, rising resin and logistics cost, rising wages and stricter labor laws, the strengthening Yuan, etc.

The agency also stressed that the economic downturn in the U.S. has directly impacted demand for Chinese manufactured goods. To support the claim, China exported $2.17 billion worth of plastics products to the U.S. in the first six months, 7.9 percent down from a year ago.

But demand from the European Union has been stable for Chinese exporters, with a 0.9 percent increase to $1.44 billion. Japan's imports from China actually climbed 7 percent, but the sheer volume $810 million is far less than the U.S.

Obviously those who export processed plastic products from China include foreign-invested companies, privately owned firms and state-owned enterprises. SMEs suffer the most from the slowdown, with a 15 percent drop. Foreign firms' export total decreased just 1.2 percent decline, while Chinese private companies managed to expand their export by 8.8 percent.

Foreign ownership still owns the lion's share of China's plastic export. But if the trend reflected in the first half of this year continues, we may see in the future that domestic private companies will take over the top position, which I truly believe, will contribute to a healthier structure of the Chinese economy.