China sold fewer shoes abroad in the first five months of this year, due partly to reduced export tax rebates, continuous RMB appreciation, weaker demand from the United States and trade barriers such as anti-dumping lawsuits, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

Between January and May, China exported 3.39 billion pairs of shoes, a decline of 3.6 percent from the same period of last year. This was in contrast with the 11.1 percent growth in the January-May period of last year.

But the export value rose 11.5 percent to 10.22 billion U.S. dollars, as average price went up 15.8 percent to three dollars per pair.

Of the total exports, 51.2 percent, or 1.74 billion pairs, were sold by private companies, down 1.8 percent.

Shoes exports to the United States went down 4.5 percent to 880 million pairs, or 26 percent of the total, while those to the European Union increased 6.8 percent to 640 million pairs, or 18.9 percent of the total.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2008)