Japan’s export growth hits two-year low as Chinese demand slows By Reuters

By Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s exports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in April as shipments to China languished amid persistent concerns about weak global economic demand.

Exports rose 2.6% in April from a year earlier, the Treasury Department said on Thursday, slower than economists polled by Reuters forecast a 3.0% rise and a 4.3% rise in March. This was the slowest growth since February 2021, when exports fell 4.5%.

The world’s third-largest economy emerged from recession in the first quarter, supported by rising consumer spending and tourism after the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, but exports languished. have weighed on factory activity and hampered a broader recovery.

Exports fell 4.2% in January-March, the first decline in six quarters.

By export destination, Japan’s exports to China, its largest trading partner, fell 2.9% year-on-year in April, driven by declines in shipments of automobiles, auto parts and steel. It was the fifth straight month of decline, following a 7.7% decline in March.

Imports fell 2.3% in April, well above the median forecast of a 0.3% decline, and fell for the first annual decline in 27 months due to lower commodity prices.

The trade deficit was 432.4 billion yen ($3.2 billion), compared to the median forecast deficit of 613.8 billion yen.

(1 dollar = 135.0500 yen)