September imports drop to under 20.4%
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the 11th consecutive month China’s import and export data has dropped. Incoming goods fell by 20.4% in September 2015, while outgoing lost 3.7 percentage points compared to last year. This is yet another indicator of crisis for the world’s second largest economy. Analysts, in the light of the collapse of the previous months, had expected a decline in imports of 15%.
According to experts and analysts, the drastic fall is due to the aftereffects of the international economic crisis and the weakness of domestic demand. The latter stems from the decline in the purchasing power of the average citizen, caused by the devaluation of the national currency (the yuan renminbi) in a surprise move by the Beijing government in August 2015 to boost its exports.
The decline in imports has also affected the export sector, since a large part of the materials imported from China are used for industrial production of consumer goods. But industrial activity is also faltering, and at this point analysts believe they can describe 2015 the worst year of the last quarter century in terms of economic growth.
Fears for the stock market remain: investors may indeed decide to abandon the Chinese companies listed on international stock exchanges. Some Asian traders believe a move unlikely, given that "the central government will intervene with a massive allocation of funds to prevent collapse".
The stabilization of the economy is the Chinese government’s main concern, which fears unemployment and financial losses. With the decline in the gross domestic product, in fact, unemployment looms as well as a drastic reduction in the average purchasing power. These two factors could trigger massive social protests - already on the rise despite Xi Jinping’s iron fist - going so far as to question the one-party political system dominated by the communist regime.
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05/12/2016 09:37
24/03/2020 10:02
