Imports and exports are down in China, for the 7th month in a row.
From AFP, via Telegraph:
The world’s third-largest economy posted exports worth $89bn (£54bn) last month, a fall of 26.4pc from the same month last year, the customs data showed.
Meanwhile, Chinese imports totalled $75.4bn, a drop of 25.2pc, officials said.
[…] Despite the steep year-on-year decline, the figures represented an increase month-on-month, with exports up 0.2pc from April, and imports up 4.4pc.
China has been severely affected by the global economic crisis, with traditional markets in North America and Europe taking fewer of its products.
Analysis of the steady decline, via the China Daily:
Zhang Yansheng, director of the Institute of Foreign Trade of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the further decline of exports should still be attributed to shrinking global demand, growing trade protectionism and a grim real economy.
Global policies that lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the market had helped sustain a sound financial system, but they did not effectively beef up the real economy, said Zhang.
Companies were reluctant to invest, consumers would not borrow to purchase, and unemployment rates were still climbing, said Zhang, noting that these phenomena would not disappear very soon.
Zhang called for preparations for “a long-term battle” before global trade returned to normal.