The corona crisis is affecting the country’s imports.
(Photo: imago images/UIG)
Beijing Despite the war in Ukraine and the Omicron wave, Chinese exports grew surprisingly strongly in March. Exports grew 14.7 percent year-on-year, according to official data released on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had only expected growth of 13 percent, after growth of 16.3 percent in January/February.
On the other hand, imports shrank surprisingly, albeit only slightly by 0.1 percent. That was the first decline since August 2020, following growth of 15.5 percent in the first two months of the year.
Analysts had expected an increase of eight percent. The drop in imports points to weaker domestic demand, which in turn points to the strongest corona wave in China since the pandemic began more than two years ago. Shanghai, the country’s largest city with 26 million inhabitants, has been in a lockdown for more than two weeks.
According to experts, exports are also likely to slow down due to the war in Ukraine. Export orders from its European customers fell by a fifth in March from a year earlier, Shenzhen Muchen Technology managing director Qi Yong told Reuters.
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The head of the sales company for consumer electronics attributes this to “the weak purchasing power caused by the war and the risk of an economic slowdown in the European economies”. “Exporters investing in this region should continue to feel the pressure,” he said.
China was able to significantly increase its foreign trade with Russia throughout the first quarter. Exports and imports rose to 243.03 billion yuan ($38.18 billion) in January-March. This is an increase of 27.8 percent, according to customs.
Economic cooperation remains normal. This also applies to Ukraine: China’s trade with it increased by 10.6 percent to 29.6 billion yuan in the first quarter. A few weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, China and Russia declared a borderless strategic partnership. According to analysts, so far there is no major indication that China is violating Western sanctions against Russia.
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