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China’s exports fell 8.8% in August from a year earlier, the fourth straight month of decline, in another blow to the troubled manufacturing sector in the world’s second-largest economy.
Analysts polled by Reuters said the contraction in August was less severe than the 9.2% decline expected and was better than the drop in July, when China’s exports fell 14.5%, the worst since the outbreak began.
Imports fell 7.3% in August, compared with a Reuters forecast for a 9% fall, after falling 12.4% in July.
The continued weakness in trade comes as Chinese policymakers grapple with turmoil in the real estate sector, one of the country’s other main engines of growth.
Chinese trade has boosted economic activity during the country’s pandemic lockdown, but exporters have struggled this year amid high global inflation as Western consumers cut back on electronics purchases.
Policymakers in Beijing refrained from sweeping stimulus measures to revive economic growth that lagged in the second quarter.
Trade turmoil and woes in the housing sector, combined with subdued consumer confidence, contributed to lower prices in July. Factory activity slowed for the fifth straight month in August.
China’s official economic growth target for this year is 5%, the lowest target in decades.
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