Chinese import, export growth slows | WPN World People News

Chinese moves to boost domestic consumption have not helped much in rebalancing economic growth as new figures released Thursday indicated that exports and imports have grown at lesser than expected pace in April.

Exports grew by 4.9 per cent in April from a year earlier, down from the 8.9 per cent annual growth seen in the previous month. This signals that global demand may be slowing.

Meanwhile, imports rose just 0.3 per cent over the previous year, and down 5.3 per cent from March. This means that domestic demand has been falling.

"Waning external demand is the major element holding back China's export growth," Zheng Yuesheng, head of the government's statistical department, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The figures raised fears about a sharp slowdown in Chinese economy, triggering calls for monetary policy easing.

"It is quite a revealing number. What we are seeing in China at the moment is an economy that is very much exposed to the global volatility," Alistair Thornton of IHS Global Insight in Beijing told the BBC.

"It is clear that the situation in Europe is dragging on China's export performance, and in turn on its overall growth."

China, the world's second largest economy, had witnessed a robust growth in the past few years. But it also led to a steep hike in inflation and surge in property rates.

The government then introduced measures, including curbs on lending, to control rising prices.

Analysts said the results have not been as desired.

"China's economy is still to bounce back from the cumulative effect of the monetary tightening last year which is impacting domestic demand," said Thornton.

Source: China News.Net