China’s
exports rose less than 3 percent for a second month
while imports had the first non-holiday decline since 2009 as the nation’s slowdown
and Europe’s debt crisis curbed demand at home and abroad.
Overseas
shipments gained 2.7 percent in August from a year
earlier, China’s customs administration said on 9 September in Beijing. Imports
fell 2.6 percent, leaving the country with a trade
surplus of $26.7 billion.
The
data increase pressure on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
to roll out more stimulus to support growth after
reports showed industrial production slowed further and producer-price declines
accelerated. Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG forecast economic expansion will
decelerate this quarter for a seventh straight period.
Companies
including China Cosco Holdings Co. (1919), China’s
largest listed shipper, are bearing the brunt of weakness in exports. The
company lost 4.87 billion yuan ($768 million) in the
first half and its top two executives have pledged to waive their salaries
until profits resume.
China’s
Commerce Minister Chen Deming said specific measures to support and stabilize
foreign trade will be announced soon, according to an interview broadcast on 8
September by China Central Television. He also said the nation’s foreign trade
situation in the fourth quarter will be better than in the third.
Economists’
estimates for exports in August ranged from a drop of 1.9 percent
to an 8.2 percent gain. The median forecast for
imports was for 3.5 percent growth, while analysts
predicted a trade surplus of $19.5 billion.
China
has allowed the yuan to weaken about 0.7 percent against the U.S. dollar in 2012, helping exporters
after the currency gained 4.7 percent in 2011.
Officials
in China have refrained from easing monetary policy since cutting interest
rates in June and July and lowering banks’ reserve requirements three times
from November to May. Authorities have shied away from stimulus near the scale
of the 4 trillion yuan package announced in 2008,
amid a global crisis when 20 million migrant workers lost their jobs.
Even
so, President Hu Jintao said Sept. 8 that economic expansion faces “notable
downward pressure,” some small and mid-sized companies are “facing a hard time
and exporters are facing more difficulties.”
Production
increased 8.9 percent in August from a year earlier
and fixed-asset investment growth in the first eight months eased to 20.2 percent, the statistics bureau said on 8 September.
Consumer inflation last month accelerated to 2 percent
from a year earlier, while producer prices fell 3.5 percent.
Wen
said in late August that the country needs targeted measures to promote steady
growth in overseas sales, including speedier payment of tax rebates. China may
expand exporters’ tax rebates on products including shoes and toys.
Countries
across Asia are seeing declines in their exports. South Korea’s shipments
abroad fell 6.2 percent in August from a year
earlier, while Malaysia’s dropped 1.9 percent and
India’s slid 14.8 percent in July.