BEIJING: World’s second largest economy China’s trade decreased 6.9 per cent to $1.88 trillion in the first half of this year.
According to the General Administration of Customs said, over the six months, trade with the European Union declined 6.7 percent, Customs said, and with Japan it dropped 10.6 percent.
Monday’s result was well below Beijing’s official target for the year for trade growth of “about 6.0 percent”. That figure was a reduction from the 7.5 percent set for 2014 – when values expanded only 3.4 percent, the third consecutive year the goal had been missed.
“Commodity prices fell significantly, dragging down growth in import value,” Customs spokesman Huang Songping told reporters, adding that “sluggish foreign demand” was the “major factor” affecting trade growth. “Export costs remained high, undermining export competitiveness,” he said, adding that by June 30, the yuan had strengthened 0.2 percent against the dollar from the start of the year, 6.9 percent against the euro and 2.2 percent against the yen. “The downward pressures on the domestic economy increased and the demand for imports was weak,” he said.
For June, imports fell for the eighth consecutive month, Customs said, dropping 6.1 percent year-on-year in dollar terms to $145.48 billion. But exports increased 2.8 percent to $192.01 billion on-year – snapping a run of three monthly declines in a row – and the country’s trade surplus leaped 47.5 percent to $46.54 billion. The monthly percentage changes were slightly smaller in China’s yuan currency.
Louis Kuijs, a Hong Kong-based economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), said there had been “extreme weakness” in the first five months of the year. But there were signs domestic demand was strengthening and the monthly June data suggested “the momentum is starting to improve”. “That is definitely encouraging for the rest of the world,” he told AFP.
Chinese stock markets have been in turmoil with shares falling more than 30 percent in less than four weeks, but the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose strongly, closing 2.39 percent higher and continuing positive momentum from the end of last week after aggressive official support measures.
