According to China’s General Administration of Customs, the country’s dollar denominated exports increased by 9.5% for August in comparison with the data from last year. The new rise in denomination exports beat the economists’ estimations.

However, the country’s dollar denominated imports witnessed a fall of 2.1% in comparison with a year ago.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had estimated exports to increase by 7.1% in August compared to a year ago while expecting a 7.2% increase in July. Likewise, imports were also estimated to increase by 0.1% in August compared to a year ago, growing up from a 1.4% decrease in July.

China, however, showed a momentous $58.93 billion trade surplus for August, surpassing the $50.50 billion that was expected by economists. Meanwhile, the country’s trade surplus was about $62.33 billion during July. The rise in exports was at the fastest speed in the past one and a half years as per the Reuters records.

Asia Pacific economist, Natixis, Gary Ng, stated that through the overall condition of China’s trade has improved, the outlook is still not without its turbulence since import information signified a weak domestic consumption.

TS Lombard’s chief China economist, Bo Zhuang stated that the robust export numbers over the consecutive three month period should accelerate Chinese development during the second half of 2020.

Bo Zhuang further added that though the import numbers witnessed a decline in the country, the overall demand witnessed for commodities was strong. However, machinery imports were weak. The Chinese population was purchasing a lot of raw material but was still not sure about the investment outlook on the basis of import numbers, stated Zhuang. 

As the rise in the export was majorly propelled by the global need for PPEs (personal protective equipment) as well as work-from-home items such as computers, the tremendous showing is projected to slow down in the upcoming months.

Source credit: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/07/china-trade-exports-imports-in-august-2020.html