BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s exports and imports slowed for the second consecutive month, official data showed Friday, highlighting worsening conditions in the world’s second-biggest economy amid global and domestic woes.
The figures ― sharply below market expectations ― add to concerns that China’s economy continues to lose steam despite government efforts to prop up growth and investment.
Analysts said the weak data, combined with disappointing figures released Thursday, create further impetus for Beijing to announce more stimulus policies.
China’s exports grew at a marginal one percent in July from a year earlier to $176.9 billion, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement, down from the 11.3 percent gain seen in June.
Imports rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to $151.8 billion last month, it said, compared with the June increase of 6.3 percent and indicating slowing domestic demand.
The trade surplus narrowed to $25.1 billion last month from $31.7 billion in June. That marked the second straight month that both exports and imports weakened.
China, the world’s biggest exporter, has been hit by weakness in overseas economies including debt-ravaged Europe, a key trading partner. A sluggish property market and weakness in consumer spending have also become a drag on the economy.
“This complicates the prospects for an imminent recovery,” IHS Global Insight economists Ren Xianfang and Alistair Thornton said in a research note.
