March 29, 2024

Erichoffer

Savvy business masters

China exports plunge on COVID-19 epidemic

BEIJING: China’s exports plummeted in the first two months of this year on the back of a coronavirus epidemic that forced businesses to suspend operations, disrupting the world’s supply chains.

Exports fell 17.2 per cent, the biggest drop since February 2019 during the trade war with the United States, and imports dropped 4 per cent, according to official data released Saturday.

READ: China reports 28 COVID-19 deaths, rise in new infections originating from abroad

China’s trade surplus with the US – a key point of contention in the trade dispute between the two countries – plunged 40 per cent in the first two months, from US$42 billion last year to US$25.4 billion.

Chinese authorities said last month that January and February’s data would be combined.

This is in line with how some other indicators are released, to smooth over distortions from the Chinese New Year break.

But consumers stayed home during the holidays this year and businesses saw a much slower return to work, as the country struggled to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has since killed more than 3,000 people in China alone.

In an early sign of the economic impact to come, China’s manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level on record in February, with non-manufacturing activity plummeting as well.

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