BEIJING: China’s exports fell 3.6% year-on-year in October, compared with a 1.1% decline in September. Imports contracted 16% year-on-year in October, from a 17.7% drop in September.
As imports fell much faster than exports, the trade surplus remained large at RMB393.2 billion (US$61.6 billion) in October. Total trade contracted by around 8% year-on-year in the first ten months of 2015, compared with the annual trade growth target of 6% in 2014.
“Soft domestic demand and the decline in commodity prices continued to weigh on China’s import growth… Looking ahead, China’s export sector will continue to face significant headwinds,” says a research report by ANZ.
“While the RMB has depreciated by over 2% since August, China’s nominal effective exchange rate remains strong, pointing to deterioration of export competitiveness. A moderate economic recovery in advanced economies could lend some support to global final demand, but this is unlikely to help China’s exports much because of large devaluation of other emerging market currencies,” continues the report.
