CHINESE exports for the January and February fell 6.8 per cent year on year a 9.9 per cent drop in December, Reuters reports.
Imports dropped too, government data showed, reflecting weak foreign demand, since the country brings in parts and materials from abroad for many of its exports.
"Given the high inflation in the US and Europe, demand from there should keep weakening, which also dampens the processing demand in China," said ING Greater China economist Iris Pang.
Yet the result was better than the average expectation in a Reuters poll for a fall of 9.4 per cent. Imports were 10.2 per cent weaker, a worse result than in December, when they were 7.5 per cent lower than a year earlier. They greatly missed the poll estimate for a 5.5 per cent drop.