BEIJING - Imports of digital cameras from Japan to Beijing declined by 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011, indicating the increasingly severe fallout from the March earthquake in Japan, the Beijing municipal government said on Monday.

The earthquake on March 11 has hurt Japanese manufacturers' output, which in turn has affected the imports and supplies in the Beijing market, said Yuan Xiaolu, director of the foreign trade operation division of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce.

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"Almost all types of Japanese -made cameras are in short supply after the earthquake," said an official at an exclusive retail outlet for Nikon cameras in Beijing.

Prices also rose by almost 5 percent when compared to the period before the earthquake and the outlet's sales volume fell by 20 percent, the official told China Daily.

The effect of the earthquake on the Chinese market will be evaluated as soon as possible, said an official from the public relations department of Sony (China) Co Ltd.

"We are unable to say the exact impact of Japan's earthquake on the Chinese market now, because we are still evaluating the damage," he said.

Trade statistics released by the Japanese government on April 20 showed exports of photographic supplies, mostly cameras, from Japan to China declined by 4.3 percent in March, compared with the same month last year.

A report on exports and imports in China in spring, released by the Ministry of Commerce on April 22, showed that the earthquake has affected the global supply chain and electronic products and vehicles have suffered significantly.

Yuan said that in March, vehicle imports from Japan to Beijing also decreased by $110 million. During the first quarter, imports of integrated circuits, a key component produced in the northeastern region of Japan, the site of the earthquake's epicenter, declined by 11.7 percent.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce said on Monday that in March, total imports from Japan to Beijing were $1.68 billion, still up 10.2 percent.

Meanwhile, a lack of materials in Japan has resulted in an increase in exports of raw materials, including soft and coking coal, from Beijing to Japan in the first quarter, Yuan said.

Exports from Beijing to Japan in the first quarter were $1.06 billion, up by 41.6 percent compared with the same period last year, he said.

"Japan has overtaken the United States to become the top export market for Beijing," Yuan said.