China’s exports have begun to feel the effect of the September 11 attacks on the US and the impact will be more obvious in the first half of 2002, said the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. Speaking at the World Economic Forum meeting in Hong Kong, Shi Guangsheng predicted that China’s export volume would decline in 2002, but that domestic demand, buoyed by government spending, would help China achieve its target of 7 per cent economic growth.
Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng, attending World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Ottawa, Canada, said that China would not devalue its currency in order to stimulate exports.