Japan's exports to China, the country's largest trading partner, declined 3.5 per cent from a year earlier in September amid concern about slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy, the government said Wednesday, according to dpa. Japan's shipments to China stood at 1.11 trillion yen (9.25 billion dollars), while its overall exports edged up 0.6 per cent from a year earlier to 6.41 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. Exports to the United States jumped 10.4 per cent to 1.28 trillion yen for the 13th straight month of year-on-year rises with shipments of vehicles up 25.6 per cent. The value of overall imports fell 11.1 per cent to 6.53 trillion yen due to plunging energy prices, resulting in a trade deficit of 114.5 billion yen. Japan's trade balance has been impacted by surging imports of fossil fuels for power generation since its nuclear plants were taken offline in the wake of the country's worst atomic disaster at Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Japan has restarted two of its 48 nuclear reactors since August.
