China’s exports stabilized in June while imports recorded a slight contraction, according to new data, but the customs warned of a dim outlook as weak demand both at home and abroad has continued to weigh on trade.

Yuan-denominated exports rose 1.3 percent year on year to 1.17 trillion yuan (US$175 billion), slightly faster than May’s 1.2 percent gain but slower than April’s 4.1 percent, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed yesterday.

Imports fell by 2.3 percent to 863.3 billion yuan — the 19th decline recorded in 20 months — after a surprising 5.1 percent growth in May.

Trade surplus stood at 311.2 billion yuan, narrowing slightly from that in May but 12.8 percent more than a year before.

Huang Songping, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, said China’s exports and imports improved in the second quarter from the first three months. However, some leading indicators showed that China’s exports may face “relatively big downward pressure” in the third quarter amid continuing weak global demand.

“The world economy still faces many uncertainties. For example, Brexit, expectations of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, volatile international financial markets, the geopolitical situation and terrorism will all affect consumers’ and investors’ confidence globally and weigh on international trade,” Huang said.

China’s trade situation will remain grim and complex this year, he said.

Huang noted that the country’s exports are losing some of their edge as re-industrialization trends in developed countries with advanced manufacturing capacities and mushrooming lower-cost manufacturers in emerging nations have exerted double pressure on China.

In US dollar-denominated terms, China’s exports fell 4.8 percent year on year in June, while imports were down 8.4 percent.

Foreign trade in the first half of 2016 was 3.3 percent lower than a year earlier at 11.13 trillion yuan, with exports down 2.1 percent and imports down 4.7 percent.

Trade surplus for the first six months widened 5.9 percent year on year to 1.67 trillion yuan.

Exports to the European Union, China’s largest trading partner, rose 1.3 percent year on year in the first six months while those to the United States, the second-biggest, shed 4.6 percent. Exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the third-largest, fell 2.9 percent.

Market watchers expect China’s second-quarter economic growth, set for release by the National Bureau of Statistics tomorrow, to be flat or slightly below the first quarter’s expansion of 6.7 percent.

(Source: ShanghaiDaily  Author: Feng Jianmin)