News Room - Business/Economics

Posted on 14 Oct 2009

China's slump in exports and imports slows amid global economic recovery

CHINA'S exports and imports fell by much less than expected in September, indicating the economy is benefiting from the global recovery.

 

Exports in September fell by 15.2 per cent from a year earlier, while imports were off just 3.5 per cent, government data showed today.

 

The decrease in exports last month was a smaller drop than August's 23.4 per cent decline, and was smaller than the median 21 per cent fall forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 11 economists.

 

The import slide was smaller than August's 17 per cent drop, and narrower than the survey's forecast of a 15 per cent decline.

 

China's January-September exports were down by 21.3 per cent from a year earlier, and imports in the January-September period were down by 20.4 per cent from a year earlier.

 

The trade surplus in the first nine months totalled $US135.48 billion ($149bn), after September's surplus came in at $US12.93bn.