Nation likely to miss trade growth target for this year, warns official
Print Edition
IT is a “very arduous” task for China to meet the 7.5 percent trade growth target this year amid weak global demand and tougher international competition, a senior commerce ministry official said.
The target can be achieved only if year-on-year trade growth exceeds 11.3 percent every month after May, Zhang Ji, head of the ministry’s foreign trade department, said at a briefing in Beijing yesterday.
“The foreign trade situation is complex and grim this year. It’s a very arduous task to achieve the annual target of 7.5 percent,” Zhang said. “The economic recovery of developed countries remains slow while growth of emerging economies is weakening.”
He said shipment to emerging markets declined 7.2 percent in the first four months of this year, compared with double-digit growth in the same period of last year. Emerging markets took 88 percent of China’s exports last year.
Zhang said slower exports are also result of a trend of moving labor-intensive industries outside China as the United States and European countries revive their manufacturing industries and China loses its appeal due to rising costs.
China also missed its trade growth target of 8 percent for 2013 and 10 percent in 2012.
In the first four months, China’s exports declined 4.8 percent to 4.16 trillion yuan (US$667 billion) and imports fell 1.2 percent to 3.94 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs.
But in April alone, exports increased 0.9 percent from a year earlier and imports rose 0.8 percent, the Customs said.
Zhang said the ministry will implement detailed trade stimulation policies in the next two months, following the State Council’s decision this month to stabilize trade growth.
Under the trade-support program, the government will speed up export-tax rebates and expand credits to importers and exporters, according to a State Council statement.
It also encourages domestic companies to invest abroad and participate in infrastructure construction projects in neighboring countries.
Zhang said the ministry is mulling over a “balanced” approach that will help both exports and imports, and large and small companies, while yielding both short-term and long-term benefits.
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