The fall in Chinese exports and imports accelerated in May, dashing hopes that a collapse in the country's external trade flows had bottomed out and pointing to the continued weakness in global demand.
Exports dropped 26.4 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a 22.6 per cent fall in April. This marked the seventh consecutive month of decline. Imports fell 25.2 per cent, following a 23 per cent decline a month earlier. China's trade surplus rose slightly from Rmb13.1bn in April to Rmb13.4bn in May.
“The global economic situation has hit a bottom but it will still take time to recover. I expect it to take one to three years,” said Hu Yifan, chief economist (global) at CITIC Securities in Hong Kong.