China’s exports up 8.5 per cent in April despite weaker global demand
by Associated Press
Chinese manufacturers say new orders and export orders declined in April from the previous month, according to a survey by the national statistics bureau.
Chinese exports grew 8.5% in April, customs data showed on May 9, displaying unexpected strength despite weakening global demand.
Exports grew to $295.4 billion compared with a year earlier, although at a slower pace, building on momentum seen in the March data when exports rose 14.8%.
But imports shrank at a faster pace, with the total slumping 7.9% to $205.2 billion compared to the same time last year, according to data on May 9 from the General Administration of Customs. It was down 1.4% in March. Trade with the U.S. and European Union showed a contraction in comparison with last year.
China’s trade surplus in April widened, growing 82.3% compared to the same period last year.
In the first four months of the year, exports edged up 2.5% over the same period of 2022 to $1.12 trillion, the General Administration of Customs of China reported. Total imports contracted 7.3% to $822 billion.
Despite that, forecasters say exports should weaken this year.
Citing the slower pace of expansion for export data compared to last month, analysts said the 8.5% figure may not reflect a real uptick in exports. “This suggests that global demand for Chinese goods remains weak and supports our view that the jump in March had more to do with distortions to the customs data rather than a genuine turnaround,” according to an analysis from the consultancy Capital Economics.
According to analysis from Iris Pang, chief economist at ING, the positive data was “mainly a result of the low base from last year’s COVID-19 lockdown” when Shanghai was shut down under China’s “zero-COVID” policy.
Global consumer demand weakened after the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia raised interest rates to cool inflation that was near multi-decade highs by reining in business and consumer activity.
Chinese manufacturers say new orders and export orders declined in April from the previous month, according to a survey by the national statistics bureau and the Chinese Federation for Logistics & Purchasing.
The government set this year’s official economic growth target at “around 5%,” up from last year’s 3% expansion, which was the second-weakest since the 1970s. Some economists raised their growth forecasts to closer to 6% following March’s unexpectedly strong trade figures.
Trade also has been dampened by tension with Washington and restrictions on access to U.S. processor chips and other technology in a feud with Beijing over security and Chinese industrial policy. Chinese factories assemble most of the world’s smartphones and other electronics.
Exports to the U.S. were down 6.5% to $43 billion compared with the same period last year, and imports also fell 2.9% to $13.3 billion in April. China’s trade surplus shrank 7% down to $29.7 billion.
Chinese imports from Asian producers of chips and other electronic components are weakening, according to Simon Knapp of Oxford Economics. Knapp noted South Korea’s exports to China plunged nearly 30% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, while South Korean exports to the rest of world were off by only 7%.
