China, the world’s biggest exporter, witnessed a slump for the second year in a row with the exports dipping 7.7 per cent in 2016 over weak global demand and a likely trade war with the US under the Trump administration.
China’s exports in 2016 fell by 7.7 per cent compared with 2015 in dollar terms, deepening from a 2.8 per cent fall the previous year, China customs data showed. The fall in exports is the worst since the depths of the global crisis in 2009.
Imports fell 5.5 per cent last year. For the whole of 2016 in dollar terms, exports fell by 7.7 per cent to USD 2.1 trillion while imports dropped 5.5 per cent to USD 1.59 trillion.
China’s foreign trade surplus narrowed to 3.35 trillion yuan (USD 486 billion) in 2016, down 9.1 per cent from a year earlier, customs data showed.
The country’s exports in yuan-denominated terms dropped 2 per cent to 13.84 trillion yuan year on year in 2016, while imports rose 0.6 per cent from the 2015 level to 10.49 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
The total export and import value decreased 0.9 per cent year-on-year to 24.33 trillion yuan.
In dollar terms, however, the fall made big difference as yuan weakened by about 8 per cent against US dollar last year.
Huang Songping, a spokesman with the General Administration of Customs told media that China faced a “complicated and grim” condition for foreign trade last year with increasing uncertainties and instabilities.
He said China would continue to see trade woes this year amid a complex global situation and economic downward pressures at home.
“The global political pattern will see huge changes this year, such as the Brexit departure from the European Union, elections in major European countries, the new presidency in the US and the election of South Korea’s president. (These) will all bring changes to current policies and may exacerbate the momentum of trade protectionism globally,” Huang said.
PTI inputs
