BEIJING – China’s exports in December fell at their fastest pace since 2020, according to official figures released today, owing to a drop in global demand and after health restrictions hit the economy hard.
The world’s second-largest economy is still reeling from the effects of years of its zero-Covid-19 policy, which hammered businesses and supply chains and dampened consumption.
China began lifting most of the hardline measures at the beginning of last month, but the country has since seen a massive spike in Covid-19 infections.
Exports fell 9.9% year-on-year to US$30.6 billion (RM132.8 billion), China customs said, their second consecutive month of decline and the biggest fall since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. They fell 8.7% in November.
Imports were also down again in December, sinking 7.5%, following a 10.6% drop the previous month. Both imports and exports dropped much more than forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg.
For all of 2022, the Asian giant’s exports rose 7.0%, a sharp slowdown from the 29.9% jump seen in the previous year, while imports were up 1.1%, well down from the 30.1% rise in 2021. – AFP, January 13, 2023
