China’s exports fell by 8.8% in August year-on-year, while imports contracted 7.3%, customs data showed on Thursday, increasing pressure on the country’s vast manufacturing sector as demand sags at home and abroad. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a fall of 9.2% in exports and a drop of 9.0% in imports. The world’s second-largest economy risks missing Beijing’s annual growth target of about 5% as officials wrestle with a worsening property slump, weak consumer spending and tumbling credit growth, leading analysts to downgrade growth forecasts for the year. However, factory owners indicated producer prices had improved for the first time in seven months, in a nod to improving domestic demand. South Korean shipments to China, a leading indicator of the latter’s imports, dropped just a fifth last month, softening from a decrease of 27.5% a month earlier.

Source: CNN September 07, 2023 12:56 UTC