Imports also fell by 7.3% from 12.4% the previous month, amid consumers’ reluctance to buy despite prices falling in July for the first time in more than two years.
These data show a greater weakness of the Chinese economy, whose real estate sector is going through a crisis, after two of the largest firms, Evergrande and Country Garden, defaulted on some debt payments, due to a drop in their income due to the restrictions to the credit imposed by the Chinese government.
The China-sensitive euro was down 0.2% at $1.0709 after hitting its lowest level since June the day before; the yen gained 0.4%, to 147,095 units per dollar, after reaching a new maximum since November at 147,875; and sterling was down 0.3% at $1.2470, its lowest in three months.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar rose 0.1% to 104.98, holding back some of the day’s gains after hitting a six-month high on unexpected boost from the US service sector in August.
More data emerged on Thursday pointing to a relatively tenacious US economy. Initial claims for state jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to 216,000 in the week to September 2, while worker productivity in the second quarter was not as strong as initially reported but remained robust.
With information from Reuters and AFP