European customs intercepted one billion euros worth of counterfeit goods last year, with 85 percent of the fakes originating from China, the European Commission said Thursday.

The figures highlighted the rise of Chinese counterfeit goods, which had accounted for 64 percent of the fake articles seized in the 27-nation European Union in 2009.

China is by far the biggest exporter of such goods in a list that includes India, the source of counterfeit drugs, and Hong Kong, which supplies counterfeit memory cards, as well as Turkey and Thailand.

A total of 103 million counterfeit goods were seized at EU borders last year, down from 117 million in 2009 and 178 million in 2008.

But the amount of fakes shipped by post rose dramatically, with seizures almost doubling to 80,000 last year from 43,500 in 2009, a trend linked to the increase of online purchases, the commission said.

Cigarettes represented 34 percent of the articles stopped by customs, followed by household products (14.5 percent) such as shampoo, soap, medicine or household appliances such as hair dryers, shavers and computer parts.

Office supplies accounted for nine percent of the seizures, followed by other tobacco products (eight percent), clothing (seven percent) and toys (seven percent).

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