Well-known Chinese news site Netease reported that the General Administration of Customs held a press conference recently. According to the announcement that it made, China’s trade surplus suffered a sharp decline to US$3.08 billion in March, while the expected surplus was US$40.1 billion. The same number in February was US$60.62 billion. Month-over-month, March imports declined 15 percent, while March exports declined 12.7 percent. In the first quarter of this year, China’s total import/export volume declined six percent year-over-year. According to the spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, the world economy is still in a “deep recovery period,” following the global financial crisis. China has entered the mode of the “New Norm.” Its international trade volume has been declining, but the quality and the efficiency of the trade has seen improvements. The second quarter situation now faces uncertainty. After the announcements, the onshore Chinese currency RMB dropped sharply against the U.S. Dollar.
Source: Netease, April 13, 2015
http://fa.163.com/zx/cj/15/0413/10/AN2U6TIO00754KOA.html