China’s exports growth slowed in May as its overseas trade is challenged by lack of new foreign orders resulting from the spreading coronavirus pandemic.
China exported 1.46 trillion yuan ($206 billion) worth of products in May, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Chinese customs on Sunday. The growth has slowed compared with the 8.2 percent growth in April.
The exports growth in Aprilgave apleasant surprise to Chinese market watchers, and was due mostly to the fact that many businesspeople were completing the backlog of orders, which they didn’t manage to deliver on time in previous months because of the coronavirus-triggered traffic restrictions, said Bai Ming, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
But the slowing growth in May said that the sector faces new headwind, which is thelack of new orders from overseas as the Covid-19 pandemic dragson, he said.
In total, China’s trade dropped4.9 percent year-on-year in the first five months of this year, with exports slumping 4.7 percent and imports dropping 5.2 percent.
China’s trade with the US slumped by 9.8 percent year-on-year in the first five months, with exports falling11.4 percent and imports dropping 4.5 percent. The US is China’s third largest trading partner behind the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The customs data also showed that although the pandemic has hit exports of daily necessities goods ranging from clothes to plastics and toys, exports of fabrics surged by 25.5 percent year-on-year in the first five months of the year,as the pandemic spurred demands for medical equipment such as face masks.
Coaches are ready for export at the Lianyungang port in Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province on Wednesday. These are the last 100 coaches out of an order for 700 from Saudi Arabia. Photo: cnsphoto
