BEIJING: China's imports and exports fell in November as a result of weakening global demand and domestic anti-virus controls.
Customs data showed Wednesday that exports fell 9% year on year to $296.1 billion, worsening from a 0.9% drop in October. Imports fell 10.9% to $226.2 billion, down from 0.7% the previous month, indicating a deepening Chinese economic slowdown.
The country's global trade surplus shrank by 2.5% year on year to $69.9 billion.
Trade was expected to deteriorate as global demand cooled as a result of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to combat rising inflation.
A "zero-COVID" strategy that shuts down large sections of cities to contain virus outbreaks has harmed Chinese consumer demand. This has caused business disruptions and has confined millions of people to their homes for weeks at a time.
Consumer spending fell in October, and factory activity slowed, as anti-virus controls tightened in response to an increase in infections.
Retail sales fell 0.5% year on year, compared to a 2.5% increase in September, as millions of people were confined to their homes, according to government data released Tuesday. Factory output growth slowed to 5% from 6.3% the previous month.
Forecasters predicted that activity would slow as Chinese anti-virus controls and interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve and other central banks weighed on global activity.
"November is shaping up to be even worse," Capital Economics' Zichun Huang said in a report.
Chinese economic growth rebounded to 3.9% year on year in the three months ending in September, up from 2.2% in the first half, but economists say activity was already cooling. They have reduced annual growth forecasts to as low as 3%, which would be among the lowest in decades.
Exports to the US fell 25.4% year on year to $40.8 billion, while imports of American goods fell 7.3% to $16.5 billion. The politically sensitive surplus with the US fell by 34.1% to $24.3 billion.
Imports from Russia, primarily oil and gas, increased 28% year on year to $10.5 billion. Russia's exports increased by 18.5% to $7.7 billion.
Washington, Europe, and Japan are reducing their purchases of Russian oil and gas in order to punish President Vladimir Putin's government for its attack on Ukraine, but the sanctions do not prevent China, India, or other countries from purchasing Russian exports.
Beijing is increasing its purchases to take advantage of Russian discounts. This irritates Washington and its allies by increasing the Kremlin's cash flow. President Joe Biden has warned Xi not to assist Putin in evading sanctions.
Xi said in a letter to a business conference this month that China, one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, is ready to “forge closer partnership” with Moscow in energy, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It gave no details.