CHINA’S trade figures disappointed analyst expectations by a wide margin in October, reinforcing views that the world’s second-largest economy will have to do more to stimulate domestic demand given the softness in overseas markets.

    While the government has repeatedly cut interest rates, the latest data showing an eighth monthly drop in net trade indicate persistent weakness in demand at home and abroad.

    October exports fell 6.9 percent from a year ago, down for a fourth month while imports slipped 18.8 percent, leaving the country with a record high trade surplus of US$61.64 billion, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.

    Economists polled by Reuters had expected dollar-denominated exports to fall 3.0 percent and imports to decline 16.0 percent, an improvement over September’s drop of 3.7 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively.

    But the weak export reading shows that China might be getting less of a boost than hoped from overseas holiday shopping while falling commodity import volumes highlight stubborn weakness in demand from key sectors like real estate and construction that the government has been trying to revive.

    China’s services sector, which has been one of the few bright spots in the economy, also lost some steam in October.

    “We see that the trade will unlikely turn around the momentum in the near term, and the RMB exchange rate will be under downward pressure especially as Fed signals to hike soon,” Commerzbank China economist Zhou Hao said.

    The decline in October exports was led by trade with developed economies, customs data show.

    Shipments to the United States dipped 0.9 percent on the year. Exports to the European Union dropped 2.9 percent and exports to Japan fell 7.7 percent.

    Combined exports and imports are down 8.5 percent for the first 10 months of the year, well below the full-year official target for growth of 6 percent.

    Last week, the Ministry of Commerce said the value of China’s exports this year was likely to stay similar to 2014 levels while imports could drop sharply in the fourth quarter.

    For 2016, the ministry expects to see steady growth in combined exports and imports as policy measures to support the trade sector take effect.(SD-Agencies)