China’s exports fall, imports collapse

China has just reported its first fall in exports for 7 years. These were still growing at 19.1% in October, but fell 2.2% in November. The suddenness of the downturn is also shown in the import figures, which were down 17.9% versus 2007.
The numbers confirm the blog’s long-expressed fear that China, and the Asian region, will suffer badly from the global downturn. Their relatively low levels of GDP/capita means that domestic growth rates immediately stall, as soon as exports dry up.