Exports from Dalian - the biggest port in Liaoning - have declined 10 to 15 per cent this year, shipping agents say.
Economists report local government officials are extremely reluctant to give out first-quarter or first-half economic indicators for the province.
But exports from the provincial capital, Shenyang, fell 14 per cent in the first quarter. Exports to South Korea have plunged 35 per cent and those to Japan 25 per cent.
Last week Dalian New Shipyard vice-president Yin Mingrong was reported as saying orders for the first six months of this year were equivalent to 10 per cent of 1996 orders.
He called for a 20 per cent devaluation in the yuan to fend off renewed South Korean competitiveness in shipbuilding.
Much of the slump in overall exports can be accounted for by slackening consumer demand in South Korea and Japan but Dalian's textile business has also been hit by competition stemming from the currency crisis.
A businessman said French and Italian fashion houses were taking orders to Southeast Asia.