China’s full-year exports fell for the first time since 2016 as global demand slowed.
Exports measured in US dollar terms stood at $3.38 trillion in 2023, down by 4.6% compared to the year before, according to Chinese customs figures released on Friday. In 2022, Chinese exports increased by 7% from the year earlier.
The last time China registered a decline in overseas shipments was in 2016, when exports fell 7.7% in the face of weak demand.
Last year, imports fell 5.5% to $2.56 trillion. That left the world’s second largest economy with a trade surplus of $823 billion.
“The global economic recovery has been weak in the past year,” Lyu Daliang, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, told a Friday press conference in Beijing. “Sluggish external demand has hit China’s exports.”
He expects 2024’s exports to continue facing “difficulties,” as global demand is likely to remain weak and “protectionism and unilateralism” will hinder the sector’s growth, he added.
— CutC by cnn.com
