BEIJING: China’s weakening yuan is expected to help boost the nation’s exports, which declined 1.1% from a year earlier in yuan terms in September, said a spokesman with the customs bureau on Tuesday.
The remark came after China’s central bank surprised the market by devaluing the yuan in August. The move was believed to be aimed at shoring up the nation’s slumping exports by making products made in the country cheaper, though Chinese authorities said it was part of a plan to give markets a bigger role in pricing the currency.
Huang Songping, a spokesman with the General Administration of Customs, said in a briefing that China’s exports are expected to return to growth in the fourth quarter after falling in the second and third quarters of the year.
Mr. Huang also said the decline in China’s imports is likely to narrow in the final quarter after Beijing rolled out a raft of measures to boost trade.
China’s imports and exports fell in September, according to customs data released on Tuesday, in further signs of economic headwinds. Imports fell 17.7% in yuan terms compared with a 14.3% decrease in August. Trade figures in dollar terms weren’t immediately available.
