China's import growth may slow H2 as economy cools: official

SHANGHAI: China's import growth will likely slow down in the months ahead as the government's measures to cool the economy take off, the China Daily reported on Saturday, quoting a speech by Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.

China's foreign trade growth will outperform the global average as well as the country's economy growth in 2011, Zhong said in a keynote speech at a conference in coastal Shandong province.

Zhong said the government's credit tightening measures were expected to gradually take shape in the second half of the year, which could in turn slow China's import growth.

Bent on taming stubborn inflation that has reached a 34-month high, Beijing has raised official rates four times and bank reserve ratios nine times since October.

China posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in May of $13.1 billion because of soaring imports and weaker global demand growth, giving mixed signals about how the economy fared when some of its best export customers faltered.

Exports rose 19.4 percent in May from a year earlier, slowing from the 29.9 percent pace in April, while import growth accelerated to 28.4 percent from 21.8 percent in April.

Copyright Reuters, 2011