Though Taiwan remained China's third largest source of imports in 2009, its share declined as Chinese purchases of Taiwanese goods contracted dramatically, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reported Saturday. The MOEA, citing data from Chinese customs, said that Taiwanese products accounted for 8.5 percent of Chinese imports in 2009, down from 9.1 percent in 2008. Japan remained China's top source of imports with a 13 percent share in 2009, slightly down from 13.3 percent in 2008, while South Korea was second with a market share of 10.2 percent, up from the 9.9 percent of the previous year. China's imports from Taiwan recorded the largest annual contraction of China's top three suppliers, falling 17.1 percent from a year earlier. Its imports from Japan declined 13.2 percent and those from South Korea fell 8.9 percent, in a year when total imports dropped 11.3 percent because of the global economic slump and stimulus measures that gave preferential treatment to domestically produced goods. Comparing Taiwan's performance with its major competitors Japan and South Korea, the MOEA's Bureau of Foreign Trade admitted that Taiwan did not perform well in China's market last year. With bilateral trade between China and South Korea getting stronger, once the two reach a free trade agreement, Taiwanese exports to China will face an even tougher challenge, the bureau said. It argued that the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China should be signed as early as possible to maintain the competitive edge of Taiwanese products. Taiwanese products had the biggest share of China's electric machinery and man- made fiber imports in 2009 while South Korea had the largest share of China's optical and plastic product and organic chemical imports. 