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Beijing. The slump in China’s exports eased in September in a sign global trade was improving and bolstering the government’s efforts to sustain an economic recovery.

Exports from the world’s third-largest economy in September fell 15.2 percent year-on-year to $115.9 billion, the slowest decline in nine months, the customs agency said Wednesday. Imports declined by 3.5 percent to $103 billion — the smallest decline since imports started to slide in November.

Both drops were improvements over August, when exports contracted 23 percent and imports fell 17 percent.

Battered by the global economic crisis, China’s trade collapsed in late 2008, but Beijing’s 4 trillion yuan ($596 billion) stimulus package helped insulate the country’s economy with heavy spending on public works construction and other initiatives.

Economic growth accelerated to 7.9 percent over a year earlier in the second quarter, up from 6.1 percent the previous quarter, driven by the stimulus spending. The government is due to report third-quarter economic growth next week.

Exports in September rose 6.3 percent compared with the previous month, while imports were up 8.3 percent month-on-month, the customs agency said, after adjusting for seasonal factors.

The trade surplus fell to $12.9 billion in September, compared with $15.7 billion in August.

“The trade is improving. We expect a further acceleration into the Christmas season,” said Dong Tao, chief regional economist at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong.

Tao said it was possible for China’s export growth to turn positive by the end of the year. Orders started to flow since late August, he said. But Tao cautioned whether a recovery in China’s exports could be sustained into next year.

“It really depends on how the global consumers, especially the US consumers, behave,” he said.

Meanwhile, China’s foreign exchange reserves surged to a record $2.27 trillion at the end of September, the central bank said on Wednesday. The reserves, already the world’s largest, grew by 19.3 percent from a year ago, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.

Foreign exchange reserves stood at $2.13 trillion at the end of June and $1.95 trillion dollars at the end of the first quarter.

I HS Global Insight economist Ren Xianfang said the expansion in China’s forex stockpile reflected a combination of an “improving trade balance” and the “gradual improvement in foreign direct investment” in China’s economy.



AP, AFP