China’s exports fell in December at the fastest pace since 2020, while imports slowed sharply, signaling risks to the recovery of the world’s second-largest economy, Al Jazeera reported.

Exports fell 9.9% year-on-year in December, the most since February 2020, customs data showed on Friday. In November, exports decreased by 8.7%.

Imports fell 7.5 percent, compared with a 10.6 percent decline in November.

China’s economy is still reeling from the effects of three years of ultra-tight “zero COVID-19” restrictions that disrupted business and kept millions of Chinese consumers at home for extended periods of the pandemic.

China is currently experiencing a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases after it began lifting most restrictions last month.

Exports have been one of the few bright spots for the Chinese economy during the pandemic, but have deteriorated sharply in the second half of 2022 as overseas consumers cut spending in response to aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks to curb inflation.

“The outlook for exports remains weak given the combination of slowing global growth and the ongoing consumer shift from goods to services,” said Lloyd Chen, senior economist at Oxford Economics.

“In addition, US export controls on semiconductor-related equipment will be a key obstacle,” Chan said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that slowing external demand and rising risks of a global recession are the biggest pressures on stabilizing the country’s trade.

The official factory survey showed that the new export orders sub-index remained in declining territory for 20 consecutive months.

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