Inflated mainland export figures in 2013 due to fake invoicing have led to slower growth rates in trade data this year, economists said, and that might cause Beijing to miss its full-year external trade growth target of 7.5%.
The combined year-on-year growth rate for mainland exports and imports in the first eight months of this year was only 2.3%, well behind the central government’s whole-year target.
The index fell 5.9 points from the second quarter to 41.7, showing that Hong Kong exporters were more pessimistic about their short-term prospects.
~ SCMP, September 17, 2014 ~