2008 in the first half of the year, 560 million pairs of leather shoes were exported, 15.9% lower than the same period last year. The deceleration accelerated by 14.2 percentage points. The export amount was 4 billion 480 million US dollars, down 0.3% from the same period last year, the first decline since 2001. The imported leather shoes were 7 million 820 thousand pairs, 210 million dollars, up 78% and 81% respectively over the same period.