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Import and export growth slowed in April leading to increasedpressure on the government to implement further monetary easing. Imports last month rose just 0.3 percent, from a year earlier, to$144.83 billion, according to a statement by the GeneralAdministration of Customs on Thursday. This was in marked contrastto a 5.3 percent rise in March. Exports last month recorded a healthier rate of growth, hitting$163.25 billion for an increase of 4.9 percent. But even that wasdown from the 8.9 percent for the previous month. The trade surplus stood at $18.4 billion in April. "Both imports and exports were weaker than expected," Dong Xian'an,chief economist at Peking First Advisory, said. This was not surprising as both the US and European economies arestill struggling, he said. According to a report by Nomura Global Economics, "weak trade dataprobably caught the Beijing authorities by surprise putting furtherpressure on authorities to loosen policy." The Shanghai Composite Index registered its first rise in fourdays, 1.6 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,410.23 on Thursday, onrenewed speculation of further monetary easing. Friday will see the release of other key economic indicators,including inflation figures, producer prices, fixed assetinvestments and industrial output. Shipments from China to the US slowed to 10 percent in April from14 percent in March while exports to the EU fell 2 percent. Liu Jianjun, spokesman of the China Import and Export Fair, oftenreferred to as the Canton Fair, attributed slowing export growth tointense global competition in high-end products and Chinesemanufacturers lacking competitiveness in the sector. Unemployment across the 27 members of the EU hit 10.9 percent inMarch, the highest since the euro was launched in 1999, with muchof the rise focused on crisis-hit southern Europe, particularlySpain. "If the eurozone falls into a deep recession, and that in turnslows US growth, China's export growth will be impacted," said areport by ANZ Greater China. Compared with the slowdown of exports, "we are more concerned aboutthe deceleration of import growth, which impacts the nation'sdomestic consumption," said Li Wei, senior economist at StandardChartered Shanghai. As part of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the governmenthas pledged to shift the growth model from exports to domesticconsumption. "China may have to ease policies further in May,' Li said. He predicted that China will probably cut bank reserve requirementsthis weekend and increase fiscal spending on infrastructure soon. Import growth weakened both for domestic consumption and theprocessing trade. "We think that a cut in the reserve requirement ratio this month ishighly likely," the ANZ report said. The report from Nomura said it "expects further policy loosening,with two bank reserve requirement ratio cuts this year, the firstlikely this month". Exports slow During the Canton Fair earlier this year the value of signed ordersfor Chinese exports shrank by 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Thiswas the first annual drop since the spring exhibition of 2009. The Canton Fair is considered a barometer of export growth. "The decline in sales was mainly due to sluggish demand fromdeveloped markets, including Europe and the US," Liu said. China set a target of 7.5 percent for GDP growth this year. More balanced trade Chen Deming, minister of commerce, said recently that "China'strade this year is more balanced than in 2011", and the tradesurplus accounted for "2.8 percent of gross domestic product in thefirst few months of this year." The trade surplus is likely to decline, according to the ANZreport. "The loss of competitiveness in labor-intensive sectors suggeststhat the trade surplus will continue to decline, leading to a morebalanced trade account in the not so distant future," it said. I am an expert from bodypiercings-jewelry.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Circular Barbell Ring Manufacturer , China Body Piercings Jewelry, Belly Ring Jewelry,and more.
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