BEIJING, Dec 8 — China’s export growth slowed last month weighed down by trade tensions with the United States, official data released today showed.

Exports rose 5.4 per cent for November on-year, short of the 9.4 per cent forecast by Bloomberg News, while imports rose 3.0 per cent on-year, also below the forecast, according to customs administration data.

China’s overall trade — what it buys and sells with all countries — logged a US$44.7 billion (RM186.2 billion) surplus in November, up from US$35 billion the previous month, the data showed.

The sagging export growth is another bad sign for China’s economy, which grew at its slowest pace for nine years in the third quarter, expanding 6.5 per cent on-year for July-September.

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Last week as part of a trade war truce, US President Donald Trump agreed to hold off on plans to raise tariffs on US$200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 per cent beginning January 1, leaving them at the current 10 per cent rate.

But unease over the agreement has dented stocks this week with major US indices falling more than two per cent to close the market’s worst week since March and one that left both the Dow and S&P 500 in negative territory for the year.

China reacted furiously after a top executive and daughter of the founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei was arrested in Canada this week following a US extradition request.

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The arrest threatens to rattle the trade war truce with the United States, analysts say. — Reuters