China's trade decline rate slows

The General Administration of Customs, however, said September's rate of decline slowed considerably from a 14.2 percent decline for August, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

September exports totaled about $116 billion, down 15.2 percent from the same month last year, while September imports totaled $103 billion, down 3.5 percent from last year, leaving a trade surplus of about $13 billion for the month.

In the first nine months of 2009, China's trade surplus stood at $135.48 billion, down 26 percent from the same period last year. Total trade volume in the nine-month period was $1.56 trillion, down 20.9 percent from last year.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.