US, European debt crises threaten Chinese export growth
13 Aug 2011
Despite an unexpected jump in July exports, demand for Chinese goods from overseas markets remain shaky in the face of debt problems in the US and the European Union a top Chinese official said.
Li Rongcan, assistant minister of commerce, told the China Top 500 Foreign Trade Enterprises Forum 2011 in Beijing yesterday, "The business environment both at home and abroad for Chinese manufacturers is very complicated and unstable and there are still many uncertainties."
Li added, "The slowdown of the global economic recovery is making the growth of Chinese exports slow down, and the overlapping of the sovereign debt crisis with the US and euro bloc is adding turbulence to the world financial market."
Li's remarks came within three days of data showing that China's exports rose 20.4 per cent year-on-year in July, amidst a a decline for the first six months of this year.(See: China's exports up 20.4 % in July)
Many exporters say that they are experiencing the worst time since the 2008 financial crisis.
With export demand declining on account of the current debt crisis and the US downgrade, other factors adding to the burden are rising costs and appreciation of the yuan, which are hurting Chinese exporters.
