Enterprises 'not optimistic' about export prospects
- By Wendy Lu
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 10, 2014
Almost 35 percent of the nearly 2,000 exporting companies that were surveyed online said the export prospects for the next two to three months look meager, according to China's General Administration of Customs.
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Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesperson from the Department of Statistics of General Administration of Customs. [Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn] |
During the first half of 2014, exports in China dropped by 1.2 percent, down to 6.5 trillion yuan (US$1.05 trillion) while imports decreased by 0.6 percent to 5.9 trillion RMB, said Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesperson from GAC's Department of Statistics at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Thursday.
Overall, the total foreign trade volume in China declined by 0.9 percent year-on-year to 12.4 trillion RMB. China's trade surplus reached a total of 630.61 billion yuan.
In June, the Export Managers Index for China – including the Export Managers Indexes for large, medium and small companies – fell from last month to 42.8, according to results of the online survey. Only 30 percent of the enterprises saw an increase in new export orders, a 0.2 percent decrease from May. Additionally, almost 40 percent of companies saw a monthly decrease in new orders and another 30 percent saw no change.
But for the first time in the last five months, the number of companies that saw an increase in total export costs in June went up – 61.6 percent, as opposed to 60.4 in May. The costs of labor and raw materials increased for 65.2 percent and 46.7 percent of the companies, respectively. Only 4.8 percent of companies saw a decrease in overall export costs, data from the GAC showed.
China's exports of electro-mechanical products decreased by 3.6 percent to 3.67 trillion yuan during the last six months, making up 56.4 percent of the total export value. However, exports of labor-intensive products such as garments, textiles, footwear, furniture, plastics, bags and toys grew by 1.3 percent to 1.33 trillion yuan, comprising 20.4 percent of total exports. On the import side, the average import prices of iron ore, coal, crude oil, soybeans and copper all decreased, and imports of each product increased.
The Export Leading Indicator (ELI) for China in June was 42.2, the second highest since 2012, only trailing behind the ELI for May. The ELI was higher during the second quarter than in the first quarter, and though potential fluctuations in export growth are to be expected in the coming months, exports are predicted to grow even faster during the third quarter.
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