Mainland imports & exports plunge
12-02-2009
Mainland exports and imports fell unexpectedly sharply in January, underlining how badly the economy has been hit by the global financial crisis. Exports were down 17.5 percent from a year earlier, after a 2.8 percent decline in December. Imports plunged 43.1 percent, twice as much as December's 21.3 percent year-on-year drop. Both falls were the steepest since economists' records began in 1993. Imports and exports have now fallen for three months in a row. The declines mirrored big falls elsewhere in Asia."Basically, the economy is still weakening and fundamentals are still weakening, mostly due to the external shock," said Qing Wang, chief China economist with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. "At least in the next quarter or two, the headwinds from weak external demand will be extremely strong, which is why we expect that overall economic growth will be worse before getting better," he said. As a result of the weakness in imports, China notched up its second-biggest monthly trade surplus. January's total of US$39.1 billion was just shy of November's record of US$40.1 billion.
