BERLIN, Dec 29 Reuters German exporters have modest hopes for next year, anticipating problems at major customers in China because of climbing COVID infections and rising prices making U.S. buyers cautious, the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade BGA said.

The United States and China are Germany39;s most important trading partners.

There will be no slump in exports in 2023, but we cannot expect a steep rise either, BGA President Dirk Jandura told Reuters in an interview published on Thursday. It would already be a success if we manage a 39;black zero39; in real terms.

After Beijing abandoned its zeroCOVID policy early this month, the virus is spreading largely unchecked across the country of 1.4 billion. While the Chinese economy is expected to see a sharp rebound later next year, it is in for a rough ride in the coming weeks and months as workers increasingly fall ill.

We are also worried about the U.S. Jandura said. We have a stronger euro again because of the ECB interest rate increases. That39;s not going to boost exports.

He added that higher interest rates were already having an impact in the United States where they have risen further, especially on the construction industry.

To tame soaring inflation, the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve have raised interest rates at the fastest pace in decades and both are expected to do more next year.

German exporters had not been able to fully process all orders in recent months due to…