广播听力: Trade Deficit Not Necessarily Bad Thing

Experts here in China are downplaying any potential concerns about the recent revelation that this country posted a trade deficit in March, the first time imports have outpaced exports in this country in some 6 years.

In fact, as we hear from Dominic Swire, some of those same experts are suggesting that the trade deficit could well benefit this country.

Chinese trade figures posted by the government certainly caught many by surprise. After six years of consistent trade surplus the country reported that exports in March, which amounted to around $112bn, were exceeded by imports, which stood at $119bn, resulting in a trade deficit of more than $7bn.

Patrick Chovanec, is an assistant professor of practice at the Tsinghua University. He says while the March trade figures came as a shock for many who have grown used to hearing about a consistent trade surplus, they can be explained by the natural business cycle, which often dips around spring time.

"It's not uNPRecedented for China to run a small trade deficit in one month in the spring in a year which ends up running a very large trade surplus. So part of this is seasonal export."

Likewise, Cao Heping, a professor of economics at Beijing University does not believe the