MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China’s April exports to Argentina fell 34.4%, largest monthly drop since 2009

The Chinese report points to the “negative influence of protectionism”

China's exports to Argentina in April declined 34.4 percent from last year, the largest monthly drop since the 2009 global recession, signalling the deepening negative influence of Argentina's trade protectionism on bilateral trade, analysts and trade experts said, quoted by the official Beijing news agency.

China's imports in April from Argentina increased 3.7% year-on-year to 443 million dollars, according to data from the Argentine National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, Indec. By contrast, exports to Argentina plummeted to 494 million in April from 752 million last year.

During the January-April period, China's imports from Argentina surged 39% year-on-year to 1.14 billion while its exports declined 4% to 2.7 billion, Argentine data show.

In a bid to achieve a larger trade surplus than last year, the Argentine government imposed strict measures or ‘balanced trade’ to restrain its import volume, according to media reports.

The China news agency says Argentine data show that during the first four months of this year, the country's exports increased 4% from last year to 25 billion while imports declined 4% year-on-year to 20 billion.

Subsequently the trade surplus during this period more than doubled from last year to 5 billion dollars concludes the Chinese agency.