Chinese exports fell 12.4% year-on-year in June, while imports fell 6.8%. This was announced on Thursday July 13 by the customs authorities. According to a previous survey of economists by Reuters, exports are expected to fall by 9.5% and imports by 4.0%.
The fall in exports was the worst since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic more than three years ago. Consumer prices edged towards deflation in June, while producer prices fell at the fastest pace in more than seven years.
Slowdown in economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic
After a strong recovery in the first quarter of 2023, the pace of post-pandemic recovery in China has slowed. In a context of persistent weakness in global demand, production is slowing and analysts are forced to revise downwards their forecasts for the Chinese economy. Now, they say, policymakers will have to reckon with the prospect of a prolonged slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy to 3% a year. This is less than half of the usual indicators characteristic of the last decades.
South Korean shipments to China, a leading indicator of Chinese imports, fell 19% last month, the smallest drop since October 2022, but signals continued weakness in demand for semiconductors and other components used to manufacture electronics.
Since taking office in March, Chinese Premier Li Qiang has repeatedly spoken of taking measures to stimulate demand and revive markets, but few concrete actions have been taken and investors are increasingly impatient, said Reuters. The government has set a modest GDP growth target for the current year of around 5%, after the country’s economy fell short of its stated targets for 2022.
Source: delfi
