The growth in China's exports and imports slowed dramatically to below 20 percent in October amid a deteriorating global trading environment, the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday.

China's exports increased 19.2 percent year on year to US$128.3 billion last month, down from a 21.5-percent rise in September.

Imports grew 15.6 percent to US$93.1 billion, retreating from increases of 21.3 percent in September, 23.1 percent in August and 33.7 percent in July.

The total trade recorded in October stood at US$221.4 billion, giving a trade surplus of US$35.2 billion which widened 30.4 percent from a year earlier.

"The shrinkage in trade is a clear sign of the weaker global economy hurt by the financial crisis,'' explained Xue Jun, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co. ''The surprisingly sharp drop in import growth could be a result of less purchases of raw materials by firms for production, which will in turn lead to lower exports in the future. Or it could be due to cheaper raw material prices on international markets."

Xue said the figures stressed again ''the urgency of stimulating domestic demand to sustain China's economic growth momentum and this will put more pressure on the government to stabilize the yuan."

Although economies around the world have made concerted efforts to rescue the global economy, major markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, members of the European Union and Japan, were all teetering on the edge of a recession and, therefore, reduced their demand for imports.

The EU remained China's largest trading partner, chalking up sales of US$359.4 billion in the first 10 months. But the growth has further slowed to 25 percent from 25.9 percent in the first three quarters. It was followed by the US and Japan with trade values of US$281.3 billion and US$225.8 billion respectively.

Emerging markets reported faster growth in trade with China. Brazil topped the list with a surge of 81 percent while India followed with a 49.5-percent rise.

On Sunday China unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus package of spending over the next two years.