Chinese customs authorities reported on Monday a weaker than expected trade performance, with a further decline both in exports and imports pointing to weakness in global demand and economic outlook.
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As a result, the trade surplus increased to $52.3 billion from $48.1 billion in June.
Export growth may stay low in the second half of the year, Liu said.
There is also no let-up in China’s politically sensitive steel exports, which have been blamed on mill closures in Australia, Britain and the United States.
Analysts warned of hard times ahead and forecast exports would be down across the year.
Exports of steel products rose 5.8 percent from July 2015 to more than 10 million tons. Data largely reflects the fragile nature of domestic demand and raises scope for more growth-supportive policies.
“I think (the drop in imports) is mainly from the demand side”, said Ma Xiaoping, an economist at HSBC in Beijing, as cited by Reuters.
An official from China’s Customs Bureau stated that pressure on exports was likely to ease at the start of the December quarter.
Iron ore imports rose 8.1 percent by volume in the first seven months of the year, but factory activity surveys last week showed domestic and export orders cooled in July, while heavy flooding in some areas disrupted business.
But recent trade data suggest that a growing portion of China’s imported oil isn’t being consumed domestically, but is instead working its way into the regional export market.
Exports fell 4.4 percent on-year, roughly in line with market expectations.
The Chinese economy is growing at its lowest rate in 25 years due to slowing production and reduced demand for commodities.
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A 6-percent depreciation of the yuan against a basket of currencies over the past year has boosted exports to some extent, but there is still significant uncertainty about external demand, Xinhua quoted China International Capital Corporation (CICC) analyst Liu Liu as saying.
