China's trade data disappointing

China's exports grew more slowly than expected in November while imports remained unchanged from one year earlier, shrinking the monthly trade surplus to 19.63 billion U.S. dollars, customs data showed Monday.

Exports in November rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, well below market expectations for a 9-percent increase and October's 11.6-percent growth, the General Administration of Customs said.

Imports were flat compared with November 2011 and weaker than the 2.4-percent rise seen in October.

Li Jian, a foreign trade expert from the Ministry of Commerce's research institute, said the decrease was caused by a higher comparative base from last year.

Last November saw the largest monthly import volume and the third-largest export volume in 2011.

The tepid imports were also caused by sluggish growth in China's major trading partners, as exporting goods that are assembled or processed in Chinese factories with imported raw materials and parts account for a large proportion of China's foreign trade, said Liu Ligang, an economist with ANZ National Bank Ltd.

China's trade with the EU, the nation's largest trading partner, fell 4.1 percent year on year during the January-November period, while that with the United States, the country's second-largest partner, climbed 8.2 percent from a year ago.

Trade with Japan shrank 2.9 percent compared with the same period last year, customs data showed.

In the first 11 months, China's foreign trade increased 5.8 percent year on year.

The Chinese government has targeted growth of 10 percent for total foreign trade this year, a figure that officials have conceded will be hard to achieve.

On the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Commerce Minister Chen Deming warned of lingering pressure on the country's foreign trade from weak global demand, rising domestic costs and growing trade protectionism.

Li said full-year foreign trade will likely expand by 6 to 7 percent from last year.

The trade data came after a range of data released on Sunday - including figures for industrial output, consumer inflation and investment - showed signs of revival in the world's second-largest economy.

Figures showed that the country's industrial output has continued to pick up and consumer inflation has remained low, while retail sales have maintained strong growth.

Weighed by waning exports and domestic measures to curb property market speculation, economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in the third quarter of the year, the lowest growth rate in more than three years.

Most economists and analysts have been putting their forecasts for China's 2012 growth under 8 percent but slightly above the 7.5-percent government target.

To buoy growth, China's central bank has lowered benchmark interest rates twice in the year, as well as cut reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks in February and again in May.

Although 2013 will witness an improvement in external demand, foreign trade can no longer be a driving force for China's future growth, as the country's demographic dividends are running out and the boost created by its entry to the World Trade Organization is phasing out, Liu said.

The country needs to push forward comprehensive structural reforms in order to unleash reform dividends and sustain growth, Liu said.