China's export value down 17.5% in January

China's export value down 17.5% in January

China's export volume decreased 17.5 percent year-on-year to 90.45 billion US dollars in January, the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.
The import volume, however, fell by a much larger degree of 43.1 percent to 51.34 billion US dollars.
Total foreign trade was 141.8 billion US dollars, with the trade surplus up 102 percent over the same month of last year to 39.1 billion US dollars.
While the January trade figures were "in part distorted by the affect of the Chinese new year, they indicate a continuing deterioration in the underlying fundamentals," said Wang Qing, chief analyst on Chinese economy with Morgan Stanley Asia.
Of the total January external trade, foreign-funded companies accounted for 52.2 percent, or 74.05 billion US dollars, down 32.3 percent from a year ago, and state-owned businesses made up 22.3 percent, or 31.65 billion dollars, down 34.8 percent.
The total included 27.93 billion US dollars in trade between China and the European Union, down 18.7 percent; 22.25 billion dollars in trade between China and the United States, down 15.2 percent; and 14.5 billion dollars in trade between China and Japan, down 28 percent.

China GDP shows slowdown

China GDP shows slowdown
(01:43) Reuters Video Report

Jan 22 - Fresh economic data shows China's economy slowing down dramatically, while officials say stability is the top priority for a bleak 2009.
Although authorities said the slowdown was only temporary, it did snap a five-year streak of double-digit growth that has turned China into the third-largest economy in 2008 after the United States and Japan.