Taiwan's export orders grew 18.23 per cent year-on-year in July, slightly more slowly than in the preceding month, as demand waned in the wake of uncertainties over the global recovery, DPA quoted the Economics Ministry as saying Friday. July's export orders shed 4.25 percentage points compared with June's 22.48-per-cent year-on-year growth, with orders from the Chinese and European markets reducing slightly, the ministry said. In July, the island received foreign orders worth 33.83 billion US dollars. That amount represented an increase of 5.22 billion US dollars over the same period last year, but a reduction of 390 million US dollars from June's 34.22 billion US dollars, it said. Orders from China, including Hong Kong, increased 10.84 per cent year-on-year to 9.07 billion US dollars, compared with June's 15.54-per-cent year-on-year growth. The US followed with orders of 7.48 billion US dollars, up 20.29 per cent from a year earlier. The European Union logged 5.3 billion US dollars, up 11.63 per cent, compared with June's 25.69 per cent, the ministry said. In its forecast for the island's 2010 export growth Thursday, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said Taiwan's exports were expected to be dampened by the European credit crisis and property market bubbles in some emerging economies. Yet strong demand for high-tech products from China, which has signed a semi-free trade agreement with Taiwan, as well as from the United States and developing nations in Asia, should support exports, it added. Export orders indicate deliveries three months in advance and are considered a key economic indicator. Taiwan's economy depends on exports, more than 40 per cent of which go to China.
