The trade figures, which show export growth slowing sharply, could strengthen the hand of officials in Beijing who are arguing for a slowdown in the rate of appreciation of the Chinese currency to protect exporters.
The deputy head of the Communist party’s policy research office, Zheng Xinli, was quoted in state media on Thursday calling for slower renminbi rises.
“We are not the Asian tigers. We need time to upgrade the structure and to handle the pressure,” he said.
Government officials maintain they are still committed to a tight monetary policy. The currency has appreciated by more than 6 per cent against the US dollar so far this year, helping to ease some of the international pressure over China’s foreign exchange policy.
The trade surplus for June of $21.35bn, against $26.9bn in the same month last year, was well below forecasts, while the rate of growth in exports fell from 28.1 per cent in May to 17.6 per cent last month. Ken Peng, economist at Citigroup in Shanghai, said the trade figures were a sign that “external demand weakness was becoming more widespread”.
Although the Chinese economy continues to show robust growth, policymakers in Beijing face the same delicate balancing act as colleagues in US and Europe, trying to control a surge in inflation without causing too much damage to economic activity.
In a sign of growing official concern about the impact of higher costs on companies in the export sector, Wen Jiabao, prime minister, and Li Keqiang, a vice-premier, have both made publicised visits over the past week to export centres.
State media reported this week that the government was likely to increase tax rebates for certain export industries such as textiles, only a few months after the rebates were cut. Over the past two months, the offshore forward market for the Chinese currency has shown a much slower rate of appreciation.
According to figures leaked to Reuters, consumer price inflation continued to slow last month, falling from 7.7 per cent in May to 7.1 per cent, which could provide further encouragement to relax tightening measures. Moreover, sales and production figures to be released next week are also expected to show some slowdown in growth.
However, several economists cautioned against reading too much into trade figures for one month, as they can be volatile. Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, said it made more sense to combine May and June figures, which together showed a strong growth rate for exports of 22.6 per cent, in line with last year’s trend.
China’s exports to the US grew by just 8 per cent in June, according to customs data, but increased by 25 per cent to the European Union. Imports to China rose by 31 per cent, down from 40 per cent in May.

