The recent slowdown in the performance of China's international trade sector has continued again in October 2015, according to the latest official data from the Asian superpower.

New figures from the country's General Administration of Customs has indicated that exports dropped 3.6 per cent during the month to 1.23 trillion yuan (£128.18 billion), while imports declined by 16 per cent to 833 billion yuan.

This marked an eighth consecutive monthly decline in exports and imports, bringing the nation's trade surplus up by 40.2 per cent to 393 billion yuan. It means that during the first ten months of the year, Chinese foreign trade dropped 8.1 per cent year over year to 19.93 trillion yuan.

The latest decline has been attributed to declining commodity prices and import volumes, and limited demand both domestically and overseas, with exports to emerging markets experiencing a marked and sudden decline.

Although the government has repeatedly cut interest rates in an attempt to stimulate trade, overseas holiday shopping is providing less of a lift than was hoped for, while the real estate and construction industries continue to lag behind their intended levels.

Meanwhile, the country's services sector also shed momentum during October, having previously been one of the best-performing parts of the economy.

Zhou Hao, an economist focused on China with Commerzbank, said: "We see that the trade will unlikely turn around the momentum in the near term, and the RMB exchange rate will be under downward pressure, especially as the Fed signals to hike soon."

The ongoing economic slowdown in China is likely to continue to be a concern for businesses in all regions, particularly those in Asia, which rely heavily on China as a key trading partner. It will also affect the strategy of companies that are focused on Asian trade as a key priority.