“China’s trade outlook in the first quarter, on the whole, is quite challenging because the downbeat global economy is adding more pressure to China’s external trade environment,” Shen Danyang, MOFCOM Spokesman, told a news conference in Beijing. Data show that China’s imports sank 15.3% year-on-year in January, falling at the fastest annual rate since August 2009. Exports fell 0.5%, the worst performance since November 2009. However, the Ministry said that the headline numbers for January did not represent the real trend, due to distortions caused by the Lunar New Year, which fell in January this year compared with February last year. Even after removing the distortions, exports and imports both displayed a continued slowdown compared with previous months. China’s exports to the EU, its biggest overseas market, declined in January. But Chen Fengying, Director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China’s export growth will probably remain above 10% in the coming months. “Policies for expanding imports will be maintained” as the nation pursues balanced trade, Shen said.

The China Ceramics Industrial Association said the EU filed an anti-dumping case against Chinese ceramic tableware and kitchenware. More than 2,000 Chinese ceramics makers might be affected by the latest investigation. China exported more than USD700 million worth of ceramic tableware and kitchenware to the EU last year and has a nearly 50% share of the European market. Foshan, a center for the production of ceramic tiles, saw its exports of the products drop by 24.4% in the first 10 months of 2011 after a punitive tax was imposed following another anti-dumping investigation. Last year, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil and Peru began anti-dumping investigations into Chinese ceramic products. Guo Cheng of the China Ceramics Industrial Association said it will help manufacturers defend their case. The European Commission has nine months to decide whether to impose provisional anti-dumping duties for half a year, and EU governments have 15 months to decide whether to apply “definitive” levies for five years.

China’s exports in January registered a decline from a year ago ― the first monthly fall in more than two years. Economists said the decline is an isolated case and the country‘s exports will rebound in February. The Chinese Lunar New Year holiday fell in January. Exports declined by 0.5% year-on-year to USD149.9 billion last month, and imports dropped by 15.3% to USD122.7 billion, leading to a trade surplus of USD27.2 billion, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. The Administration explained that fewer working days in January resulted in the export decline. Exports to the U.S. surged by 5.4% year-on-year in January, and those to Japan rose by 6.1% and to South Korea 9.2%. “Disregarding the seasonal factors, China’s exports posted double-digit growth,” it said. Experts differ on the reasons for the decline. “Obviously, the fall should be attributed to seasonal distortions and the week-long holiday,” said Wang Tao, Chief Economist with UBS in China. However, Li Wei,  Economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai, held a different view. “It’s hard to tell if it is a reflection of the slackening global demand or the result of seasonal distortions.” In January, China’s exports to the European Union, the largest destination for Chinese-made goods, fell by 3.2% year-on-year, mainly dragged down by a drop of 28.2% in shipments to Italy. Exports to Hong Kong fell by 16.4% year-on-year, while those to Taiwan decreased by 28.2%. Premier Wen Jiabao said that China will try to maintain basically “stable” foreign trade policies, adding that any adjustments should be more “encouraging than restrictive”. In January, China’s imports fell for the first time since October 2009, fueling concerns over whether domestic demand can sustain and support the global economy, the China Daily reports.

China regretted the World Trade Organization’s decision to uphold a raw material export restriction ruling against the country as it reiterated that the curbs were meant to protect the environment. The WTO rejected China’s appeal against the ruling that the country has violated global trading rules when it limited the exports of nine industrial raw materials, including zinc, coke and magnesium, by imposing duties and quotas, which gave domestic manufacturers an unfair edge. “The WTO rules should not only stress free trade but they should also allow member countries to take necessary steps to protect their natural resources and environment,” the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said. The case was brought by the United States, the European Union and Mexico in 2009. The WTO issued the ruling in July last year, and China appealed in September. The ruling may prompt the U.S. to launch a new case against China’s rare earth export policy. China has said it will keep the 2012 rare earths export quota virtually unchanged from 2011. Coking coal has since 2009 been subject to a 40% export tax, while its export quota shrank to 8 million tons last year from 11.93 million tons in 2009. In the first six months of last year, it stood at 4.6 million tons.

The European Court of Justice annulled anti-dumping duties the EU slapped on Hong Kong shoe makers Brosmann Footwear and Risen Footwear, and Guangdong shoemakers Seasonable Footwear (Zhongshan) and Lung Pao Footwear (Guangzhou). They are among 400 to 500 Chinese and Vietnamese shoemakers which have been paying anti-dumping duties since 2006. Chinese and Vietnamese shoemakers had paid more than USD1 billion in such duties since 2006, said Arnoud Willems, Partner at U.S. law firm Sidley Austin. Willems, who represented the shoemakers, said the companies could expect to gain millions of dollars in tax refunds. The court also ruled that any Chinese exporter requesting an individual assessment of an anti-dumping duty imposed on it is entitled to receive one. Individual assessments increase the likelihood of anti-dumping duties being lowered. The judgment overturned an earlier ruling by the General Court of the EU. It was the fourth time the European Court of Justice had overturned a lower-court ruling, Willems said. The judgment came on  the day when Premier Wen Jiabao told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing that China was considering getting more deeply involved in tackling the EU’s debt crisis.