The growth rate for the value of imports and exports in China's nonferrous metals industry dropped by 20.5 percent in the first two months of 2012 year-on-year.

That brought the total value of trade in that industry to $24.71 billion for the period, a gloomy sign for the economy, a senior official said.

According to statistics provided by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association on Wednesday, the value of the country's imports and exports was only 8.7 percent higher in January and February than in the same months a year ago. The comparable growth figure for 2011 was 30 percent.