First time in 7 years a quarterly deficit in foreign trade balance was registered in China. Bloomberg informs that by the end of the first three months of 2011 imports exceeded exports by 1.02 bln. US dollars.
The trade balance deficit is a result of the growth of prices for the goods imported to China. Natural disasters that hit Japan (the second largest trading partner of China after the EU) on March 11 together with growth of oil prices had also negative impact on the foreign trade balance.
In total the volume of foreign trade in January-March in comparison with the first quarter of 2010 grew by 29.5% (800.3 bln. US dollars). Exports increased by 26.5% and imports – by 32.6%. In February this year the foreign trade deficit constituted 7.3 bln. US dollars. Yet, in March exports grew which caused positive month results.
The quarterly trade balance deficit was last registered in China in 2004. The same period of 2010 ended for China with a surplus of 13.91 bln. US dollars.
