Exports of China's GARBAGE PRODUCTS CRASHED, plunging 25.7 percent. 20,000 textile plants that supplied cheap crap to GAP, WALMART and other retailers have closed their doors, over 20 Million workers have lost their jobs as SCUM BAG President Hu calls on his MILITARY to maintain China's civil society (can we say Human Rights Violations may begin?). Even worse, the imports that were appeasing China's masses also dropped by over 24 percent from one year ago levels...which means many of China's interior merchants are about to be OUT OF BUSINESS.
In an attempt to stem the crashing of their economy, THEY ARE TRYING TO LOOSEN CREDIT. There is a scary though....1.5 Billion Chinese in debt UP TO THEIR EARS...at least they are a short people. China, may your economy crumble and burn, may the citizens of Tibet and other oppressed lands under the Dragon's thumb choose the right time to raise their voices and weapons against Mother China as they push you from their lands. Be patient Dalai Lama, the time to throw off China's yoke of oppression is fast approaching.
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese exports plunged 25.7 percent, to $64.90 billion, in February compared with the previous year, the government reported Wednesday, as the once-white hot economy fell victim to the international economic downturn.
Imports dropped as well, falling $60.05 billion in February, or 24.1 percent, from year-ago levels, according to China's General Administration of Customs.
Beijing had already reported on Tuesday that slumping consumer demand had pushed China's consumer and producer price indices into negative territory in February.
Consumer prices fell 1.6 percent for the month, compared with a year ago, while the producer price index dropped 4.5 percent from a year earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The numbers are indicators of inflation at the retail and wholesale levels, which means average prices are falling across China.
Lower prices can be good news for consumers. But in times of recession or economic slowdown, they are also a sign that demand has fallen and producers have had to lower prices to sell their products.
China had seen double-digit growth since 2001 as consumers worldwide bought Chinese goods. However, exports were hit hard starting in late 2008 because of the global economic crisis.
Don't Miss
In November, China announced plans to inject $586 billion (4 trillion yuan) into its economy to offset declines in industrial and export growth.
That economic stimulus plan included the loosening of credit restrictions, tax cuts and massive infrastructure spending.
The NEW GREAT WALL...
China's Hu urges stability in Tibet
China's President Hu Jintao ordered a "Great Wall" against Tibetan separatism on Monday, as extra soldiers were deployed to the Himalayan region on the 50th anniversary of a failed anti-Chinese uprising.
The Chinese leader issued the call to Tibet's leaders as tensions rose in the Himalayan region ahead of Tuesday's anniversary of the 1959 revolt that forced the Dalai Lama into exile.
"We must build up a Great Wall in our fight against separatism and safeguard the unity of the motherland, and push Tibet's basic stability toward long-term security," state television quoted Hu as saying in a meeting with Tibetan leaders.
"Tibet should fully implement the important tasks of development and stability and ensure that the economy develops rapidly and that state security and Tibetan society remain stable."
The Chinese president oversaw a heavy-handed crackdown on Tibetan unrest in 1989 when he was the top communist leader of the region.
Protests against Chinese rule have flared in recent weeks despite a security crackdown including one Buddhist monk who doused himself with petrol and set himself alight while holding an image of the Dalai Lama.
Chinese state media also reported a protest involving dozens of people in Golog, a Tibetan-populated region of northwest China, on Sunday.
On Monday a police car and a firetruck in Golog were hit with handmade explosives but no one was killed, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, which did not specifically identify the protesters as Tibetans.
Chinese authorities made it clear they are bracing for potential widespread unrest for Tuesday's anniversary, following deadly riots that swept across the Tibetan plateau 12 months ago.
"To protect stability in Tibet, we have deployed military troops to strengthen controls at entry points and on key roads along Tibet's (international) border," said Fu Hongyu, a top border control official.
"We will go all-out to maintain security and stability," Fu said in comments carried by Xinhua.
China has previously warned that exiled groups may seek to destabilise Tibet from across the border in Nepal or India.
Tibetan activist groups based in the Indian hill town of Dharamshala said Monday that thousands of protesters would mark the uprising anniversary there.
Meanwhile, residents in Lhasa reported an increased security presence on Monday and said citizens were ordered to carry identification at all times.
"There are policemen patrolling the streets 24 hours, carrying guns," a staff member at a hotel in the city told AFP by phone.
"You can go out but you need to take your identification with you, in case the police stop you."
The man's identity was withheld by AFP to protect him from possible police reprisals.
However, residents said there had been no curfew imposed and there were no signs of any unrest.
The 1959 uprising came nine years after communist Chinese troops moved into Tibet to "liberate" it from serfdom, but many Tibetans say this was an invasion and the start of widespread repression under Chinese rule.
Tibet's government in exile says tens of thousands of Tibetans were "slaughtered" following the uprising, with more than 87,000 people dying between March and October of 1959 alone.
Tibet's exiled government says at least 200 more people died when Chinese security forces clamped down following last year's protests that marked the 49th anniversary.
But China denies this and says "rioters" were responsible for 21 deaths.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, who remains a revered figure for Tibetans, has warned in recent days that Chinese authorities are stepping up their repression, but urged his followers to follow his path of non-violence.
Across Tibet and the neighbouring western areas of China with Tibetan populations where last year's unrest occurred, authorities have increased security in recent weeks.
Tibet activist groups have described the situation as de facto martial law.
Foreign reporters remain barred from travelling to Tibet independently, and have been turned back from visiting other sensitive Tibetan areas of western China.
