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Trade growth to slow further in 2009

By Diao Ying (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-06 15:33

China's foreign trade increase is expected to continue slowing down in 2009, hampered by weakening demand in other countries and domestic economic slowdown, the Customs said in a survey released on Jan 4.

The Customs estimates that the growth rate of trade in 2009 will be below 5 percent, compared with the 18 percent increase in 2008.

The weakened demand in other countries has restricted exports as the global financial crisis spreads to non-financial sectors, the report says.

The report said in a short time, the decline of imports may be even faster than exports because prices of raw materials in the international market have dropped significantly, and the domestic economy is also slowing. The decrease of outside demand will also reduce the import demand in manufacturing trade.

China's import and export value dropped for the first time in seven years in November 2008, as the financial crisis escalates. The trade value in November was $189.9 billion, with a monthly decline of 9 percent. Exports dropped by 2.2 percent and imports by 17.9 percent from October.