China Exports Log Weak Growth In April
May 09 2022 - 2:36AM
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China's exports growth eased sharply in April largely due to the
coronavirus-related disruptions, the weak demand from Russia
following the war in Ukraine and the fall in demand for
pandemic-linked goods.
Exports grew only 3.9 percent on a yearly basis in April, much
slower than the 14.7 percent increase seen in March, data from the
General Administration of Customs showed Monday.
This was the weakest expansion since mid-2020. However,
economists had forecast a bigger 3.2 percent decrease.
The blame rests partly with China's COVID-19 outbreak, which has
led to manpower shortages and bottlenecks in the logistics sector,
economists at Capital Economics said. But the extent of these
disruptions should not be overplayed.
The firm said hopes that exports will rebound once the virus
situation improves are likely to be disappointed. Instead, export
volumes are expected to fall further over the coming quarters.
Although the government targets around 5.5 percent economic
growth, lockdowns in many cities and supply chain bottlenecks are
darkening the outlook.
The International Monetary Fund projects China GDP to grow 4.4
percent this year and 5.1 percent next year.
Official data showed that imports remained flat in April,
following a 0.1 percent fall in March. Imports were expected to
slide 3.0 percent.
Although exports growth slowed in April, the trade surplus rose
to $51.1 billion due to unchanged imports. The surplus was forecast
to rise to $50.6 billion from $47.3 billion in the previous
month.
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