BEIJING, Feb 11: China’s exports fell by the steepest margin in more than a decade in January, the government said on Wednesday, as the global crisis combined with a major holiday to hit overseas shipments.

Last month’s exports totalled $90.5 billion, down 17.5 per cent from the same month a year ago, customs authorities reported.

“Such a steep fall in exports is very rare historically,” said Su Chang, a Beijng-based economist with think tank CEB Monitor Group.

The most that exports had ever fallen over the past 10 years was 10.8 per cent in January 1999, according to official data.

Figures for earlier years were not accessible.

The decline was part of even larger changes in global trade flows, as major economies along the Pacific Rim saw demand for their goods decline dramatically in once-voracious markets in Europe and North America.

“Exports in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan have all posted large drops. China is basically in the same supply chain with these countries,” said Wang Qing, a Hong Kong-based economist with Morgan Stanley.

An estimated 20 million workers have lost their jobs in recent months in China, as factories along the eastern seaboard have closed in massive numbers.

The drop in exports followed declines of 2.8 per cent in December and 2.2 per cent in November compared to the previous year, the first time in seven years that Chinese exports had fallen.

China’s trade surplus remained high last month at $39.1 billion, a rise of 102 per cent from the same month in 2008, customs said.

However, this was mainly the result of an even steeper drop in imports, which plunged 43.1 per cent year-on-year, according to customs data.—AFP