The export boom that carried China’s economy through much of the Covid-19 pandemic has lost momentum, adding urgency for Beijing to seek growth drivers elsewhere as the global economy struggles.

The decline for Chinese exports got steeper in the final month of 2022, falling 9.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 8.7% drop in November, according to data from China’s customs bureau. While the decline wasn’t as steep as the 10.5% drop forecast by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, it marked the biggest dip since February 2020, when a nationwide lockdown brought economic activity to a halt.

…The full-year growth figures for both exports and imports were much smaller than the double-digit percentage gains in 2021, signaling that the export boom that helped China weather the pain of the pandemic is now nearing its end. That has reinforced concerns that China will no longer be able to count on robust trade to propel its growth in 2023.

[What is that old adage about a “wounded tiger” and dangerous..? ~ Beege]