Chinese exports to Luso countries down 45 pct y-o-y in Q1

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries amounted to US$16.73 billion in the first quarter of 2016, according to data from China Customs and published by Forum Macau. This represented a 23.03 per cent decline year-on-year compared to the US$21.73 billion seen in the first quarter of last year.
Imports by China from Portuguese-speaking countries saw a 2.1 per cent drop year-on-year for the quarter, amounting to US$10.88 billion, while exports from China destined for the countries saw a 44.95 per cent drop to US$5.84 billion in the same period.
The total value of goods traded between the parties saw a month-on-month rise of 9.96 per cent, with imports to China from the countries rising 11.39 per cent from the previous month and imports up 7.13 per cent for month of March. Total trade value amounted to US$5.53 billion in the third month of the year, of this US$3.97 billion was conducted between Brazil and China.
Brazil continued to be China’s largest trading partner amongst the eight countries sharing a common language, with US$11.6 billion in trade for the first quarter of year, split between US$4.24 billion imported to Brazil from China and US$7.36 billion exported to China from Brazil.
This still represented a 47.27 per cent drop in Chinese products exported to the country, and a 19.3 per cent drop in imports to China from Brazil.
Angola came in second in the pool, with US$3.4 billion in trade between the petroleum-rich country and China, with Chinese exports to the country falling by 75.36 per cent year-on-year and imports to China also falling by 27.58 per cent. Trade was heavily weighed towards Angolan exports, amounting to US$3.1 billion, while imports from China to the country only amounted to US$345 million.
São Tomé and Príncipe continued to have a one-sided trading arrangement with China, with the superpower buying up US$1.27 million in exports from the country, while the country recorded no imports from China for the quarter.