According to customs data released on Wednesday, exports decreased by 9% from a year ago to $296.1 billion, worsening from a 0.9% decline in October. Imports decreased 10.9% to $226.2 billion from the previous month’s 0.7% decline, signaling a worsening slowdown in the Chinese economy.
China’s worldwide trade surplus decreased to $69.9 billion
Following interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to tame soaring inflation, trade was expected to decrease as global demand dropped. A “zero-COVID” policy that closes down significant portions of cities to manage virus epidemics has harmed Chinese consumer demand. This has caused economic disruptions and forced millions of people to stay inside for extended periods of time.
October saw a decline in consumer spending and a weakening of industry activity as the economy was hampered by anti-virus measures in response to an increase in infections. In contrast to September’s 2.5% growth, retail sales fell 0.5% year over year as millions of people remained inside their homes, according to official figures released on Tuesday.
Factory output growth slowed from 6.3% the previous month to 5% this month. Forecasters had predicted that activity would slow as Chinese anti-virus regulations, interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve, and other central banks weighed on global activity. However, the performance was even worse than they had anticipated.
November is looking to be even worse
Chinese economic growth picked up from the first half’s 2.2% to 3.9% over a year earlier in the three months that ended in September, but economists say activity was already slowing down. They have decreased their estimates for annual growth, which would be among the worst in decades, to as low as 3%.
Exports to the US dropped by 25.4% from the prior year to $40.8 billion, while imports of US goods declined by 7.3% to $16.5 billion.
The politically sensitive US surplus decreased by 34.1% to $24.3 billion. The amount of oil and gas imported from Russia increased by 28% to $10.5 billion from the previous year. To $7.7 billion, exports to Russia increased by 18.5%.
