Plunge to 1% increase from 14.7% in April suggests crackdown on fake invoices that overstated mainland sales overseas is working.
Imports in May were down 0.3% year on year. The trade surplus widened to USD20.4 billion from USD18.2 billion in April.
Zhao Xijun, a finance professor at Renmin University in Beijing said exports were unlikely to improve significantly in the second half of the year because of the weakness in global demand, as well as brewing trade disputes with the European Union. Bilateral trade between China and the EU was USD214.4 billion in May, down 2.8%.
~ SCMP, June 9, 2013 ~