Japan's export growth slowed for a sixth straight month in August, in a sign that the recovery is losing steam.

八月份日本出口增长继续保持六个月以来的缓慢趋势，经济恢复已失去动力。

Japan\s flagging export growth is compounded by a growing dispute with China

August's 15.8% annual rise in exports was well down from a peak in February, when growth rose to 45.3%.

The August slowdown came as the yen¹ approached a 15-year high against the dollar, and led to Japan's central bank intervening（介入） to weaken the currency.

Japan is also worried that a deepening territorial²（领土的，区域的） row with its biggest export partner, China, will also hurt growth.

The Japanese trade figures show that US-bound exports rose 8.8% from a year earlier, but were much weaker than the 25.9% rise in July.

Exports to Asia, which account for more than half of Japan's total exports, rose 18.6% from August last year, slower than July's increase of 23.8%.

Exports to China were up 18.5% in August from a year earlier, down from a 22.7% annual increase in July.

Japan's fragile recovery continues to worry analysts³. "We still face the risk of a double-dip recession," said Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist⁴ at Nomura Securities in Tokyo.

Japan's export-led recovery has been constrained⁵（驱使，强迫） by the strong yen, which makes goods sold abroad more expensive and reduces the value of profits repatriated⁶.