By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Chinese exports continued their growth trajectory in the first quarter of 2022, but the war in Ukraine and the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the country could mean that this growth will slow down soon.

The recent record number of COVID-19-related cases, and subsequent lockdowns throughout the country have weakened domestic consumption.

The March 2022 growth rate was 14.7%, which beat forecasts by Investing.com of 13%. The previous month saw a 16.3% increase. contracted 0.1% year-on-year, in contrast to Investing.com forecasts that predicted a growth of 8% and the previous month’s 15.5% figure.

China’s strong trade performance over the past two years is set for a slowdown in 2022, as other countries loosen COVID-19 restrictive measures. Soaring energy prices and global supply snarls caused by the war in Ukraine, ongoing since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, continue to impact exporters.

Qi Yong, general manager at a consumer electronics distributor Shenzhen Muchen Technology Co., told Reuters that although export orders from the company’s European clients dropped 20% in March from a year ago, exports to North America remained brisk.

This was due to “the war-induced weak purchasing power and risks of economic slowdowns in European economies,” and “exporters with exposure to the EU may continue to feel the pinch,” said Qi.

There was a $47.38 trillion difference between January and February. This exceeded Investing.com’s prediction of $22.4 billion. However, it was still lower than the $115.95 million figure in January.

“Generally speaking, China’s foreign trade got off to a smooth start in the first quarter of this year, laying a good foundation for achieving the target for the whole year,” according to General Administration of Customs spokesman Li Kuiwen.

“But at the same time, we should also see that there are some unexpected, sudden factors in the current international and domestic environments, the external environment of foreign trade is becoming more severe, development faces many risks and challenges, and coupled with the high base last year, greater efforts should be made to achieve the goal of foreign trade for 2022.”