Chinese Export Growth Tumbles | G7Finance.com

Bejing: traditional Chinese theatre (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dismally feeble trade data from China on Friday provided another round of evidence that its economy is struggling to pick up speed, and fanned expectations that the authorities in Beijing would step up their efforts to buttress growth ahead of a key leadership transition this autumn.
The growth in overseas shipments ground to a near halt in July, with exports up just 1 percent from a year earlier, far below expectations and well beneath the 11.3 percent seen in June. Imports, too, disappointed, with a rise of 4.7 percent, underscoring that domestic demand remains weak despite steps during the past months aimed at bolstering bank lending and infrastructure-building activity.

Data released Thursday had painted a similarly disappointing picture: industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment all grew less rapidly than economists had projected.

Combined, the July figures show that Beijing’s efforts to shore up growth in the face of the weak global economy — the turmoil in Europe has dented demand in that region, while the recovery in the United States remains anemic — have so far proved insufficient. ... Continue to read.

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