China's customs agency said August exports rose 25 per cent from a year earlier, led by demand for cars and high-technology goods. Imports grew 28.2 per cent after a 27.5 per cent increase in July. The trade surplus widened to 119.1 billion dollars from 112.5 billion dollars a month earlier. The figures landed before a planned late-September meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whose date Beijing has not confirmed.
China's August exports rose 25 per cent from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month. Imports increased 28.2 per cent in the same month, after a 27.5 per cent year-on-year gain in July. The customs agency released the rates on Tuesday in dollar terms.[1], [2]
The trade surplus widened to 119.1 billion dollars from 112.5 billion dollars a month earlier. Demand for cars and high-technology goods stood out in the 25 per cent annual export rise.[1]
The figures landed before a planned late-September meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping; Beijing has not confirmed a date. Policymakers in the United States and Europe have objected to a surplus that reached 1.2 trillion dollars for the whole of last year. The European Union runs a trade deficit with China of about 1 billion euros a day, and ministerial trade talks sit on the bloc's autumn agenda. At home, consumption and investment remain weak after a property downturn, and on Sunday Beijing said it was injecting about 54 billion dollars into state banks and insurers. Chi Lo, senior market strategist for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said China has moved up the value chain into artificial-intelligence infrastructure and industrial automation, with Washington withholding high-end technology and Beijing withholding rare-earth exports.[1]
