REUTERS, Beijing

China’s exports likely contracted further in July, as manufacturers in the world’s second-largest economy struggled for buyers in markets grappling with high inflation and rising interest rates, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Data for July are expected to show a 12.5 percent fall in outbound shipments from a year earlier, following a drop of 12.4 percent in June, according to the median forecast of 28 economists in the poll.

That would be the worst reading since the early days of the pandemic in February 2020, when exports fell an annual 17.2 percent, as strict Covid curbs and lockdowns across the country resulted in workers laying down their tools.