Japan 'among hardest hit by China-induced global trade slowdown'

Tokyo

WORLD trade shrank by nearly 13 per cent last year, the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) said on Tuesday, noting that global growth was sluggish despite unprecedented monetary easing and stepped-up fiscal support.

It said in a report that, going by its estimates, world merchandise trade fell by 12.7 per cent from the previous year to US$16.4 trillion; this was the first decline in the six years since the global financial crisis.

Jetro pointed to China's strong role in the global-trade slowdown, and noted that Japan had suffered more than many other Asian countries as a consequence of the decelerating trade flows.

The report came a day after Japan's Cabinet Office announced that growth in the world's third largest economy had slowed almost to a halt in the second quarter, and blamed weak external demand i…