Chinese exports slumped unexpectedly sharply in May. For the first time in three months, exports in US dollars fell by 7.5 percent compared to the same period last year, as the customs administration reported in Beijing on Wednesday. Imports fell for the second month in a row. The decline in imports was 4.5 percent – although the basis for comparison was low a year ago due to the Corona restrictions.
China's economy is not gaining momentum despite the lifting of strict corona restrictions in December. The reasons for the downturn in exports are considered to be weak global demand, which is under pressure from high inflation. Weakening domestic demand is also slowing down the expected post-pandemic recovery.
While China's export machinery is running much slower, the prospects for growth in the second-largest economy, which had actually started the year well, are also deteriorating. The government in Beijing has set itself a GDP growth target of around five percent for this year after clearly missing the target for 2022. Recently, important leading economic indicators had already been worse than expected.