China’s sharp drop in imports led by weaker demand for aircraft, soybeans and smartphone screens

China's imports fell by 5 per cent in the first nine months of 2019, reflecting disruption to global supply chains amid ongoing US-China trade war

Purchases of aircraft plunged 41.6 per cent, while imports of soybeans dropped 7.9 per cent

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China’s imports of hi-tech products dropped 7.9 per cent in the first nine months of 2019, compared with the same period a year ago. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:38pm, 14 Oct 2019Updated: 10:17pm, 14 Oct 2019

China’s purchases of aircraft, soybeans and LED screens fell sharply in the first nine months of 2019, reflecting disruptions to global supply chains caused by the China-United States trade war and a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy.

Overall Chinese imports dropped 5.0 per cent in the period January to September from a year earlier to US$1.55 trillion, while September imports fell 8.5 per cent alone, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Monday. The weak figures spell broader trouble for the global economy, which depends on Chinese demand to support growth.

The trade war between China and the US appeared to be a prime reason for the decline in imports, with Chinese purchases of US goods down 20.5 per cent in September and 26.4 per cent in the year to date.

But imports from other countries also suffered, with purchases from Japan down 7.6 per cent in the first nine months of the year, while those from South Korea fell 17.8 per cent.

Imports from the European Union bucked the trend, rising marginally by 0.3 per cent in the year-to-date period, but well below the 14.4 per cent gain of the same period in 2018.

Imports of hi-tech products, a general term that covers goods from computer chips to semi-finished components, dropped 7.9 per cent in the first nine months of 2019, compared with the same period a year ago. LED panel screens, which are imported in bulk from South Korea and Taiwan and assembled into smartphones and tablet computers ready for export, dropped 13.8 per cent in the period by volume, customs data showed.

China’s imports of “diodes and similar semiconductor devices”, another important category of components in China’s processing trade, dropped 12.6 per cent in the first three quarters of the year by volume, data showed.

The weak import data comes as many Korean and Taiwanese factories relocate from China to countries like Vietnam and India as US tariffs have hit tech firms operating in the mainland. South Korean electronics giant Samsung last month shut down its last smartphone factory on the mainland.