China’s trade growth moderated sharply in May from strong expansions in the past two quarters, likely a result of the country’s tightened controls on speculative money. Exports increased 1 percent from a year earlier to US$182.7 billion last month, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday. This slowed from the jump of 14.7 percent in April. Imports dropped 0.3 percent to US$162.3 billion, reversing the gain of 16.8 percent a [...]

China will study the possibility of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman said on Thursday. “We will analyze the advantages, disadvantages and the possibility of joining the TPP, based on careful research and according to principles of equality and mutual benefit,” said MOC spokesman Shen Danyang. He made the remarks at a news briefing in response to [...]

The BBC reported on Tuesday that at least 14 EU members were opposed to punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports. The tariffs, proposed by EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, have drawn much attention in recent months and even caused share prices in the industry to plunge. If the proposal is realized, the average 47.6 percent average tax rate will affect almost 21 billion euros ($27 billion) in Chinese [...]

Last month, the frustrated Chinese were reportedly snapping up milk power in supermarkets in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany, causing a major disruption and triggering purchasing restrictions from the countries. New Zealand exporters are worried that blackmarket sales of New Zealand honey in China could damage the business, calling for more actions from the government, according to local news. This is the latest report that has reflected Chinese mainlanders’ huge [...]

China inked a free trade agreement (FTA) with Switzerland over the weekend, which will largely benefit Chinese customers through tariff reductions on Swiss imports. But beyond cheaper Swiss watches, I think there is still much the country can gain from this deal. Striking such an agreement in the geographic heart of Europe may prompt other European Union member nations to reevaluate their trade relationships with China. This could significantly ease [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that Germany firmly opposes a trade probe initiated by the European Commission into imports of Chinese mobile telecommunications products as China and Germany called for free trade amid growing trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels. Merkel made the remarks over breakfast with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is in Germany for an official visit from Saturday to Monday. In a joint statement issued Sunday, [...]

China rejects trade and investment protectionism, premier says China and Switzerland signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the conclusion of free trade talks on Friday during Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Bern, the Swiss capital, in what business leaders called a landmark deal. The signing of the memorandum means Switzerland will soon become the first country in continental Europe and the first of the world’s top 20 economies to reach [...]

A free trade agreement between China and Switzerland would generate long-term benefits for both countries, Swiss Economy Minister Johann N. Schneider-Ammann said. “The progress we have made in our bilateral FTA does call for a celebration,” Schneider-Ammann told China Daily. “The FTA will contribute to the sustainable expansion of trade and economic welfare,” he added. China and Switzerland launched the ninth round of negotiations on a free trade agreement in [...]

Local companies under pressure from rising yuan, upgrading costs Local government officials have insisted that Dongguan remains a top destination for processing trade businesses, despite recent closures in the city being blamed on the continued strength of the yuan. He Yu, Dongguan’s vice-mayor, acknowledged that some processing trade businesses had closed since the end of last year, but he said those were due to what he called a “provincial-wide industrial [...]

Hot money inflows, disguised as trade payments, distort numbers China’s trade surplus figures in the first four months of the year were over-inflated by hot money smuggled into the country to profit from interest rate differentials and investments in the real estate and financial sectors amid the yuan’s appreciation, according to economists. If the fake transactions, which were disguised as trade payments, are not taken into account, the real surplus [...]