China's monthly trade surplus hits record $60.6bn in FebMarch 9, 2015 - 18:52 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - China's monthly trade surplus hit a record $60.6bn in February, as exports grew and imports slid back, BBC News reports. Exports were up 48.3% year on year to $169.2bn, and imports dropped by a fifth to $108.6bn, said the country's General Administration of Customs. The growth in exports was well ahead of analyst expectations. China's economy grew by 7.4% in 2014, it’s weakest for almost a quarter of a century, and recent indicators show signs the slowdown is continuing. Customs officials put the surge in exports down to a flurry of activities by companies to get orders processed before the Chinese New Year, which fell in the middle of February this year. "Affected by the Spring Festival factors, export companies in the country again rushed to export ahead of the holiday and only resumed working after it," a statement said. The surplus figure stood at $8.9bn in the same period last year. But the Lunar New Year had fallen on January 31 in 2014, followed by a week-long national holiday, which meant it provided a weak comparison with this February. For the first two months of the year, China's trade surplus has totaled $120.7bn, following the $60bn surplus in January. "We still see strong headwinds facing China's exports this year," said ANZ economists Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao in a research note. Premier Li Keqiang last week announced a lowered growth target of "approximately 7%" for this year, and cut the trade growth target for 2015 to "around 6%". Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |