Resilient exporters ride the waves as competitors falter

Successful companies have shifted to added-value sectors to weather a stormy foreign trade market, reports Wei Tian in Shanghai

Chinese exporters are sailing into head-winds of sluggish demand overseas and rising costs for domestic manufacturers.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday, China's exports dropped by 1.2 percent to 6.5 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion) in the first half of the year, with the trade surplus declining by 6.5 percent to 630.6 billion yuan. If calculated in dollars, the exports registered a slight increase of 0.9 percent in the first six months.