Chinese stimulus may have lifted intra-Asia trade

GENEVA: China's massive fiscal stimulus may have been the engine that has lifted Asian intra-regional trade in recent months, a joint report by the World Trade Organisation, OECD and UNCTAD said Monday."The fact that China's imports grew twice as fast as its exports in July also suggests that intra-Asian trade could be benefiting from the country's fiscal stimulus," said the report.Trade flows have rebounded more strongly for several Asian economies compared to Western developed economies, said the report, pointing out that the trend suggests that growth "could be due to intra-regional trade."It cited South Korean export figures as an example, where in July, exports to the world grew at a slower pace of just 22 percent compared to those to Asia, which grew at 26 percent. Exports to China grew at the fastest rate of 27 percent.Taiwan's government had said in July that the island has benefited from China's four-trillion-yuan (580-billion-dollar) stimulus package which the giant economy unveiled late last year.The widely-praised fiscal stimulus however came under fire at the "Summer Davos" meet in northeastern China's Dalian city where economists say that it is aggravating imbalances in the economy.Beijing had said Friday that it was on track to meet its target of eight percent economic growth in 2009 -- the rate it says it needs to ward off social unrest -- thanks largely to the massive programme of government cash handouts.