The Chinese Economy May Have Put the Worst Behind it

A growing number of economists believe that the Chinese economy may have put the worst behind it.

China’s trade figures for March, released Friday, painted a moderately encouraging picture of that giant economy.

Exports, which make up about one-third of China’s economy, were 17.1 percent lower in March than a year earlier, the government said….The drop in exports was below what economists had projected, and less severe than the 25.7 percent plunge recorded in February.

Meanwhile, imports continue to weaken ; falling 25.1 on a Y/Y basis, a slide that was steeper than that in February.

The slowing pace of exports however, was the latest in a string of recent encouraging statistics.

“Signs have been emerging that China’s stimulus package launched last November is working,” Qu Hongbin, China economist at HSBC in Hong Kong, said in a report in the last week. [via NYT]