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

China accounts for 60 percent 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 percent last year, well down on 2007's 14.2 percent, while sales to EU countries increased 9.3 percent, against 21.1 percent.

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