China says can meet 2012 exports target

BEIJING: China's trade ministry sought to dispel worries about slowing economic growth on Tuesday by saying exports are likely to pick up in coming months and the country can meet its 10 per cent exports growth target for 2012.

Shen Danyang, a spokesman at China's Commerce Ministry, said anecdotal evidence suggested Chinese export and import growth in looked as good in June as it did in May, when trade shipments were more than double market forecasts.

"China's exports and imports are still growing within our expected range, and they are improving," Shen told reporters.
"From what we know from some companies and some regions, (trade) growth in June is still pretty good, and has kept the pace seen in May," he said.

Still, China's export growth this year is running at half the pace of last year in the face of Europe's debt crisis and anemic US demand, stoking investor concerns the world's second-biggest economy is losing steam faster than previously thought.

China's exports have missed the 2012 target of 10 per cent in three out of five months this year. The Chinese government is sensitive to plummeting export sales as the export sector is China's largest employer, and a sharp downturn could throw millions of workers out of jobs and heighten the risk of social unrest.

Earlier in June, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said the trade outlook was "grim" and "if lucky" China would achieve its exports growth target.

Source – Economic Times