Less trade in China

China's imports and exports are still very much on the rise, but their ascent slowed in June. The value of imports into China rose by 6.3 percent in June compared to May figures, after officials expected a bump of around 10 percent. Weaker consumer and industrial demand were said to be behind the slowed growth. Exports last month rose by 11.3 percent, as opposed to 15.3 percent in the previous month.

While the remaining trade growth is surely the envy of western countries, the rapid slowdown in June was bad news for economies which had been hoping to compensate losses through the current eurozone debt crisis by expanding trade with China.

The Asian country's slowing demand in June for oil, iron ore, machinery and other foreign goods was not a one-off, market strategists claim. "And it's clear that exports too will not be much of a boost to China's economy for some time," Moody's Analytics Economist Alaistair Chan told AP news agency.

Government intervention

China's diplomatically sensitive global trade surplus widened by a staggering 43 percent year-on-year to total $31.7 billion (25.8 billion euros), the highest level so far this year.

Beijing has already launched a series of packages to stimulate growth. Most recently, the government reduced fuel prices and pumped huge sums of money into the economy through spending on low-cost housing, airports and other public projects.

Nonetheless, China's economic growth has fallen to its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, not least due to initial government attempts to cool overheating and inflation.

hg/msh (AFP, AP, dapd)