Gov't support measures to have effect within months
The nation's exporters face increasingly grim prospects this year, as rising labor costs and shrinking overseas demand continue to weigh on sales abroad, according to a report from the Development Research Center of the State Council on Friday.
Only one-third of the 543 surveyed exporters reported an increase in business during the first five months of this year, compared with 43.3 percent during the same period of 2014, said the report.
More companies lost money during the period, read the report, with 6.5 percent of the surveyed companies in the red compared with 4.6 percent during the same period in 2014.
Among the profitable companies, 68.1 percent said their profits were at a normal or very low level and only 3.5 percent said their profits were very high, according to the report.
The report said that companies from the textile and machinery sectors have been hardest hit. Also, companies targeting markets in Europe and other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa) are experiencing faster declines than companies targeting other markets, according to the report.
China reported a larger-than-expected drop in exports in July, with transactions diving 8.9 percent year-on-year to 1.19 trillion yuan ($186.2 billion), customs data showed. Total trade fell 8.8 percent to 2.12 trillion yuan in July.
The government has rolled out many recent measures to boost trade growth, such as simplified customs procedures and more favorable financing policies. Experts said that these measures are expected to have a gradual effect in boosting trade in the next few months.
The appreciation of the yuan has been a major reason behind exporters' tough times, said the report on Friday. Some experts said that the recent devaluation of the currency is expected to help boost exports, however, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Sunday that the devaluation may have a limited impact on trade.
The People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced it would devalue the yuan by 1.9 percent against the US dollar on Tuesday. The yuan fell again in the following two days before rebounding slightly on Friday. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar dropped 4.38 percent last week.
