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Foreign trade growth slows to 7-year low

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-06 19:34

An employee works at a textile factory in Suining, Sichuan province February 5, 2009. China's foreign trade topped $2.56 trillion in value in 2008, but the year-on-year growth rate dropped below 20 percent for the first time in seven years, according to the General Administration of Customs. [Agencies]

China's foreign trade topped $2.56 trillion in value in 2008, but the year-on-year growth rate dropped below 20 percent for the first time in seven years, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The total value was up 17.8 percent compared with 2007, but the growth rate was down 5.7 percentage points.

Related readings:  China's foreign trade tops $2.56 trillion but slows in 2008  Global financial crisis hits Beijing in foreign trade  Minister: China's foreign trade to hit $2.6 trillion in 2008  Shanghai Customs reports biggest monthly foreign trade fall in seven years

Exports were up 17.2 percent to $1.43 trillion and imports up 18.5 percent to $1.13 trillion, but the annual export growth rate slowed by 8.5 and imports by 2.3 percentage points.

The trade surplus stood at $295.47 billion, up 12.5 percent, according to the administration.