The nation is not importing things the way it used to. January imports plunged about 20 percent in dollar terms from a year earlier, caused in part by falling commodity prices - China is a big buyer - and the drag of a slowing economy on corporate spending.

Exports were not pretty either, having fallen 3.3 percent last month. "Domestic demand in China remains very weak, especially in the two most important types of imports: raw commodities and capital goods," wrote Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc.

A report suggests that a deeper problem lies ahead for multinational companies betting on China sales to drive global growth: The buying power of China's middle class is not expanding as quickly as many anticipated. That is pulling down overall per capita consumption growth, which dropped from 8.5 percent in 2009 to 7.1 percent now. The trend is likely to continue.