Growing trade conflicts endanger global growth: German ministry

BERLIN, April 12 (Xinhua) -- An increase in international conflicts over trade is placing global economic growth at risk, a monthly report by the German economy ministry warned on Thursday.

Aside from directly erecting new barriers to trade in some areas, these trade conflicts could create "uncertainty" among businesses and hence "undermine the ongoing global economic recovery" if they continued to escalate, the report read.

The ministry highlighted that German economic momentum had already begun to show signs of a "slight weakening" in recent months. Private consumption, production and industrial revenue were all down compared to the final months of 2017.

The official expression of concern over trade conflicts came on the same day as the German Railway Industry Association (VDB) informed that exports of German trains and railway technology fell by 23 percent to 4.7 billion euros in 2017 amid growing mercantilist sentiment across the world.

"The protectionism is easy to tell," VDB president Volker Schenk complained.

Nevertheless, the economy ministry noted on Thursday that the German economy might actually benefit from a slight cooling of domestic growth in the long term after recording rapid quarterly growth towards the end of 2017. Businesses had begun to experience severe difficulties in meeting high demand and would hence feel relieved by a reduction in market pressure on their productive capacities.

The report said, as long as the "heightened risk of protectionism" was controlled, the conditions for further growth in Germany and the whole world were still "favourable". Enditem