China lost US$50.5 billion in exports last year because of technical measures by foreign countries, the country's quality supervisor said Thursday.

The figure rose from US$49.5 billion in 2007 and US$35.9 billion in 2006, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said.

The agency said 36.1 percent of exporters were affected by the trade barriers in 2008, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year.

Machinery and electronic products, farm produce, textiles, wood and paper were among the most-affected products.

Technical measures were mainly related to toxic materials, technical standards, certificate requirements, packaging and environmental requirements, the AQSIQ said.

Technical measures were the second-biggest obstacle to exports, after the appreciation of the Chinese currency, it said.