China's exports growth slows in August: experts

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 16, 2003

China's exports growth slows in August: experts

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Growth in China's exports moderated in August after they rose by more than a third in the first seven months of the year as the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) earlier in the year affected export orders.

However, trade experts said the growth was still strong as foreign-invested companies sold more goods abroad and the yuan's peg to the US dollar made Chinese goods more competitive on the global market.

Exports were valued at US$37.4 billion in August, a rise of 27.2 percent from last year, theMinistry of Commerce reported Sunday. But that's 4 percentage points lower than the 31 percent year-on-year growth in July.

Imports in August also rose 27.3 percent to US$34.6 billion, leaving China with a trade surplus of US$2.8 billion, up 26.2 percent year-on-year.

In the first eight months of this year, China exported US$265.8 billion worth of goods, up 32.5 percent year-on-year. Imports were US$256.9 billion in the same period, up 40.6 percent from a year ago. The trade surplus was down 50.4 percent from last year to US$8.9 billion. China recorded monthly trade deficits in January and March due to the soaring prices of oil it had to import at that time.

"The slowdown in China's export growth last month could be mainly attributed to the impact of SARS that affected a large number of trade orders in the second quarter," said Zhou Dunren, a professor at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University.

"Such an impact could extend into the following months, but things look better than most of the economists had expected," he said.

During the SARS outbreak in the second quarter, many trade experts estimated exports would drop significantly in the third quarter of the year. Some even projected the trade surplus to fall to a near zero level.

The spring session of the Chinese Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou, deemed as the barometer of the whole year exports picture, received a cold shoulder from foreign buyers in April due to the SARS outbreak.

At that event, foreign buyers placed export orders worth US$4.42 billion, barely a quarter of the volume as compared to that achieved at last year's autumn show.

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