According to media reports, in the first quarter of 2011, Korea exported US$183 million worth of machine tools to China, an increase of 51.1% year-on-year, making China the largest market of Korean machine tools. This figure accounted for 37.7% of Korea's total exports of machine tools during the period under review, compared with 43% in the same quarter of last year.The US and Germany were the second and third largest markets of Korean machine tools in the first quarter of respectively, accounting for 12% and 9.7% of the total. In March alone, Korea registered new machine tool order bookings of 525.5 billion won (approximately US$488.95 million), representing an increase of 34.3% from the previous month or 75.3% from the same period of last year. Domestic and export order bookings contributed 291.4 billion won and 234.1 billion won, an increase of 53.3% and 16.4% from the previous month respectively. In the first quarter of the year, new order bookings for Korean machine tools rose 77.5% year-on-year. Machine tool imports amounted to US$423 million, an increase of 35.8% from a year ago. Exports were US$485 million, an increase of 67.7% from the same period of last year. March also marked the 10th consecutive month for Korea's machine tool imports to be above US$100 million. It was also the 13th straight month for Korea's machine tool exports to be above US$100 million. Trade surplus amounted to US$62 million in the first quarter of the year.