The growth rate of China's export slowed in August, but the
trade surplus remains high despite the government's efforts to trim
the ballooning figure.
The trade surplus was $24.97 billion last month, the second
highest in history after $26.91 billion in June, the General
Administration of Customs said on its website yesterday.
Exports totaled $111.36 billion, up 22.7 percent from a year
earlier, down from 34.2 percent year-on-year in July, according to
the Customs figures. Imports reached $86.38 billion, up 20.1
percent from a year earlier.
"Slower export growth in August is mainly due to a high base a
year ago," said Qiu Gaoqing, an economist with Bank of
Communications in Shanghai. Exports increased 32.8 percent in the
same period last year.
Another reason for slower growth is that exporters had rushed to
ship goods in earlier months before the government cut the export
tax rebate to narrow the trade gap in July, said Qiu and other
experts.
But experts say it is hard to predict whether the slowing trend
will continue. "I believe we need to see the trade figures in the
coming months to judge whether existing policies are really working
to rein in exports," said Li Yushi, deputy director of the Chinese
Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a Ministry
of Commerce think tank.
The latest Customs figures on exports do not mean the total
amount of exported products is increasing because prices of unit
export goods are rising, according to Mei Xinyu, a researcher with
the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic
Cooperation. Mei cited figures showing the export price of products
including cotton and motorcycles has increased this year.
Many analysts expect the trade surplus will continue to increase
in the coming months as the second half always sees more trading
activity than the first half. The total trade surplus this year is
expected to reach $250 billion.
China has been trying to reduce the trade surplus by repealing
rebates of value-added taxes on hundreds of products and imposing
additional taxes on exports of certain items such as steel. But
exports will not slow dramatically as the worldwide demand for
Chinese goods remains high, say experts.
Major export items include hi-tech, machinery and electronic
products, clothing, textiles and automatic data processing
equipment. Major import items include hi-tech, machinery and
electronic products, according to Customs figures.
(China Daily September 12, 2007)
