China’s export growth beats expectations, offering support
Lines of trucks are seen at a container terminal of Ningbo Zhoushan port in Zhejiang province, China, August 15, 2021. Picture taken August 15, 2021. cnsphoto via REUTERS
China’s exports grew faster than expected in July, bucking expectations waning global demand would weigh on trade and providing support for an economy battling sporadic Covid outbreaks and a property downturn, Bloomberg reports.
Exports in US dollar terms grew 18% last month from a year earlier to $332.96 billion, the General Administration of Customs said Sunday. That beat the median estimate of a 14.1% gain in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and compares with an increase of 17.9% in June.
Imports grew 2.3%, compared with an increase of 1% in June. That was lower than the median estimate of 4% growth and left a wider trade surplus of $101.26 billion last month, the data showed.
“China’s export growth surprised again on the upside. The strong export growth continues to help China’s economy in a difficult year as domestic demand remains sluggish,” said Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “ The surprisingly strong export growth helps to boost confidence in the RMB exchange rate, which in turn helps deter capital outflows.”
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