China's Exports Tumble 17.5%, Most in Almost 13 Years (Imports declined 43.1% !!!)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axZwl6OyPaZY&refer=home

China’s January Exports Fall 17.5%, Most in Almost 13 Years
Email | Print | A A A

By Kevin Hamlin

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China’s exports fell by the most in almost 13 years as demand dried up in the U.S. and Europe, worsening the outlook for jobs and industrial production in the world’s third-biggest economy.



Shipments declined 17.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the customs bureau said on its Web site today. That was more than the 2.8 percent decline in December. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 economists was for a 14 percent drop.

China’s economic slide has already cost the jobs of 20 million migrant workers, adding pressure on the government to boost consumption and expand a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package. Government researchers have advocated weakening the yuan against the dollar to support exports, a move that could add to trade tensions amid the worst financial crisis since World War II.

“All China’s major trading partners are in recession,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at SJS Markets Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Boosting domestic demand is extremely important.”

Imports declined 43.1 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest decline since Bloomberg data began in 1995, on the nation’s waning demand for raw materials for manufacturing and lower commodity prices, leaving a trade surplus of $39.11 billion. Imports fell 21.3 percent in December.

Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said yesterday that the nation needed to cut its savings rate to boost consumption and sustain growth.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kevin Hamlin in Beijing at khamlin@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 10, 2009 23:07 EST

 

To encourage baby-making would help too.

 

Premier Wen Jiabao said last month his government’s strategy for investing would focus on safeguarding the value of China’s $1.95 trillion foreign reserves.

And spending a bit of the 1.95 $ trillion, too.

 

Yes, but not on birth control.