China will build 10 traditional Chinese medicine trading centers worldwide by 2015 to promote TCM abroad. Key tasks include fostering TCM talents, supporting scientific innovations and developing a statistics system for the TCM trade. Currently, China exports its TCM services, such as TCM training and medical treatments, to 160 countries and regions worldwide. The total trading volume of TCM services is nearly CNY2.5 billion, said Wang Guoqiang, Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. China has 36,000 institutes involved in TCM medical services, research and training, 803,000 certified TCM teachers and 15,000 people involved in new technology research and development of TCM.

Growth in transactions at the Canton Fair has slowed. They totaled USD8.5 billion in the first phase of the fair, up just 1.1% over the previous session. The fair’s first phase, which ran from April 15 to 19, focused on consumer electronics, home appliances, lighting, motorbikes, cars and car parts, machinery, hardware, construction materials, sanitary products and chemicals. “We are facing declining exports due to weak demand from buyers from traditional markets,” said Liu Jianjun, Spokesman for the Canton Fair. At the ongoing second phase of the fair, the number of buyers from Europe and the United States has declined a lot, according to Liu. The EU remained China’s largest trading partner in the first quarter, though bilateral trade growth was just 2.6% year-on-year at USD126.87 billion. China’s trade with the U.S. increased 9.3% to USD106.77 billion. China’s exports rose 7.6% in the first quarter to USD430 billion.

China should take concrete steps to expand imports and cut tariffs quickly, as the deceleration of import growth is raising economic concerns, Wei Jianguo, former Deputy Minister of Commerce, said. On April 15, import tariffs on items including leather garments, accessories and computers were cut from 20% to 10%. Imports rose 5.3% last month, while exports increased 8.9%, yielding a trade surplus of USD5.35 billion. “For three decades, China has prioritized expanding its exports, but now, it needs to shift to imports,” said Wei. “Expanding imports could help China stimulate domestic consumption”, part of the effort to transform its economic growth model by 2015, he said. In March, imports of commodities including copper, oil and iron ore fell. Imports of refined copper, copper alloy and related products totaled 462,182 metric tons, down 4.6% from February. China aims to expand foreign trade by 10% this year.

Many foreign traders at the Canton Fair fear the doubling of the daily trading band of the yuan against the U.S. dollar to 1% will mean wider swings for the Chinese currency, which may appreciate further and erode cost advantages. Commerce Ministry Spokesman Shen Danyang conceded that exports would be affected by a more volatile yuan and that some buyers at the fair were so worried about a more unpredictable currency that they were not placing long-term orders. “It will be more difficult to predict the yuan,” Shen said. “This creates a certain degree of challenge to exporters and traders, who have got used to a stable currency.” The yuan has gained 30% against a basket of currencies since it was depegged from the dollar in 2005. Economists at BBVA and Nomura say they expect the yuan to strengthen by a further 2% to 3% by the end of the year, while Citigroup anticipates a 1% to 2% appreciation.

China posted a surprise trade surplus in March, but it came on the back of a sharp slowdown in imports that signals sagging demand for the raw materials used in industrial production. Exports rose 8.9% from a year earlier to USD165.6 billion, compared to a growth of 18.4% in February, the General Administration of Customs said. Imports gained 5.3% to USD160.3 billion, slowing from a 39.6% surge a month earlier. That created a trade surplus of USD5.3 billion, turning from a February deficit of USD31.5 billion, the first deficit in a year and the largest in a decade. “The data showed a grim trade outlook,” said Xue Jun, Analyst at CITIC Securities Co. “Both exports and imports eased more than expected, imports in particular.” “Although there were signs of a stronger manufacturing sector in China last month, demand among producers was declining amid an economic slowdown, and it explained the slowing imports,” said Société Générale Economist Yao Wei. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index released on April 1 hit a one-year high of 53.1, indicating China’s manufacturing activity was expanding, but the HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which is slanted toward private and exported-oriented companies, stood at 48.3 last month, a sign that activity is slowing. The HSBC index has been losing ground at the second-fastest pace in three years. “The trade data showed China needs more stimulus to spur domestic demand to sustain growth,” said Tang Jianwei, Analyst at Bank of Communications (BoCom). In the first quarter, China’s trade expanded 7.3% to USD859.3 billion and showed a surplus of USD670 million, the Shanghai Daily reports. Exports to the European Union, China’s largest trading partner, fell 1.8% in the first quarter, but exports to the United States rose 12.8%. China’s trade with Russia rose 33% and there was a gain of 11.5% with Brazil in the first quarter.