- Julian Evans-Pritchard, Capital Economics' China economist
China's exports dropped more than expected in November, while decline in imports slowed, a sign that domestic demand started to recover slowly. Exports plunged 6.8% in November from a year earlier, falling for a fifth consecutive month. At the same time, imports plummeted 8.7% over the same period, according to China's General Administration of Customs. As a result, trade surplus shrank to $54.1 million from the record high of $61.64 million last month. Back in October, exports had dipped by 6.9% from a year earlier, while imports had tumbled 18.8%.
Chinese growth slowed to 6.9% in the third quarter, sliding below the 7% mark for the first time since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, sparking concerns of a hard landing in the world's second largest economy after years of explosive growth. President Xi Jingping said in November the nation's economic growth rate would not be less than 6.5% in the five years to 2020. To boost the economy, the People's Bank of China has repeatedly lowered interest rate and devalued the Yuan against the US Dollar this year. China is widely expected to record its slowest economic growth in a quarter of a century this year as activity is weighed down by sluggish domestic and foreign demand, factory overcapacity, high debt levels and cooling investment.
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