For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C
Trade between China and other countries has plunged according to official statistics, suggesting the global economic slowdown is also embroiling China. Analysts say the fall is not only due to the closure of factories during the long Lunar New Year manufacturing break. Instead, they also blame the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.
China's trade data has suffered its biggest fall since 2008, heightening fears that the economic woes of the United States and Europe will also hit China's economy.
China's exports fell to $149.9 billion, 0.5 percent down from a year earlier, due to weak overseas demand and the closure of factories during the Lunar New Year. It was the first time exports fell in more than two years.
Imports were more concerning, with a 15.3 percent plunge bringing total imports to $122.7 billion.
At the same time, China's global trade surplus swelled to a six month high of $27.3 billion, which is likely to be a talking point when Chinese Communist official Xi Jinping visits the US this week. This swell raises a politically sensitive issue, as the US and other countries have long accused Beijing of hurting their economies by keeping its currency artificially low in order to boost exports and swell its trade surplus.
But falling imports are also a concern for suppliers like Brazil, Australia and South Africa whose economies are heavily reliant on selling commodities.
Analysts said the data cannot be attributed solely to the annual Chinese New Year slowdown, when factories shut down as their workers return home to celebrate the holiday with their families. Others blamed weak overseas demand, as Europe grapples with its debt and the United States with unemployment.
Ren Xianfeng of HIS Global in Beijing told the BBC the sharp import slowdown of 15.3 percent was worrying
