FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
China draft of the new Five-Year Plan presented at the National People's Congress over the weekend confirms that the growth target for 2016 will be 6.5-7% - down from the 7% target for 2015.
It is interesting to note that Beijing does not publish targets for foreign trade data and it is difficult to imagine solid growth if foreign trade collapses at the same time. China's Feb trade data released this morning remained extremely sluggish and further adds to worries over the country's external demand and also reinforced China slowdown fears.
Data showed that China trade balance for February in yuan terms came in at +209.5bn missing expectations at +341bn and compared to 402.20 in the previous month. Exports slumped by 25.4% y/y in Feb, following an 11.2% drop in the previous month. Imports fell by 13.8%, after falling 18.8% in January.
"We continue to expect a gradual recovery in the construction and industrial sector to drive an improvement in the Chinese economy over the next one-two years while service sector growth continues at a robust pace. Especially the increase in construction activity - albeit moderate - should be positive for raw material prices and iron ore as supply cuts are taking place at the same time." said Danske Bank in a report.
