Chinese exports, imports decline

Weaker Chinese trade figures for November will be bracing to those who had viewed that country as a potential savior for the slumping economies of the Europe, Japan, and the United States. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)

BEIJING - China's exports fell for the first time in seven years, the government reported yesterday, sliding 2.2 percent in November and providing stark evidence the global financial crisis has arrived here in earnest.

Exports had surged 19.2 percent in October.

Imports also plunged sharply last month, falling 17.9 percent and widening the trade surplus to $40 billion, from $35.2 billion in October.

Taken together, the trade figures will be bracing to those who had viewed China as a potential savior for the slumping economies of the Europe, Japan, and the United States.

The figures, together with further signs of a sagging economy in Japan, paint a picture of economic gloom spreading across Asia - even if much of the region will suffer from a less severe downturn than the United States and Europe.

The worrisome developments will put added pressure on the Chinese government, which only last month disclosed a $586 billion stimulus package aimed at cushioning the effects of the global slowdown.

In recent weeks, the government has reduced interest rates, taxes on stock trades, and revealed other measures aimed at lifting domestic consumption.

In a report broadcast on China National Radio after the trade figures were released, the government vowed to expand spending and cut taxes next year in an effort to spur job creation and bolster agriculture, social security, education, and small and medium-size enterprises.

Beijing will also seek to ensure "healthy and stable" growth of the nation's property markets, which has slowed dramatically in recent months.

In another batch of sobering news, the government said direct foreign investment fell 36.5 percent from a year earlier and the producer price index, a measure of inflation at the factory level, had fallen to its lowest rate in two years.

That figure, 2 percent in November, was 6.6 percent a month earlier. In August, when that number hit 10.1 percent, the government was focused on stemming the threat of inflation.

Exports are a mainstay of China's economy; by one measure they make up 40 percent of gross domestic product. While some experts dispute that figure, analysts say the slumping demand for Chinese goods is likely to pull down the nation's growth rate, which was 9 percent in the third quarter, close to or even below the 7 percent figure that many Chinese economists contend is the minimum for maintaining social stability.