In responding to a view that attributes sharp downturns in the Chinese economy in late 2008and early 2009 to the “collapse of external demand, ” the present paper scrutinizes threerelevant issues: How have large Chinese importers behaved in a demand-price setting?How have Chinese commodity imports and exports interacted in recent years? Did thedownturns in China’s export growth come earlier and were they deeper than those inChinese import growth? All answers appear to suggest a conclusion contrary to theabovementioned view: sharp downturns in China’s trade and economy during the recentglobal financial crisis were, to a large extent, caused by certain domestic factors, or byfactors that should not be regarded as entirely “external.” Insomuch as globalization hasadvanced, a large economy like China’s today faces new potential sources of macroeconomicdisturbances, from inside and outside. In responding to a view that attributes sharp downturns in the Chinese economy in late 2008 and early 2009 to the “collapse of external demand, ” the present paper scrutinizes threerelevant issues: How have large Chinese importers behaved in a demand-price setting? How Did the downturns in China’s export growth earlier earlier than others in the Chinese import growth? recentglobal financial crisis were, to a large extent, caused by certain domestic factors, or byfactors that should not be considered as exclusively “external. ” Insomuch as globalization hasadvanced, a large economy like China’s today faces faces potential potential of macroeconomic disorderedances, from inside and outside.