BEIJING – China’s exports posted strong growth again last month, extending an upward trend on the back of a consumption rebound among its major trading partners, official data showed today.
Inbound shipments, however, cooled after a surge in September – with analysts expecting that a drop in import prices weighed on headline numbers.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has battered countries worldwide, foreign trade in the world’s second-largest economy fared better than expected, buoyed by healthcare shipments.
Exports rose 11.4% on-year in October, customs data showed, better than the 8.9% growth predicted by a Bloomberg poll of economists.
Imports, meanwhile, grew 4.7%, short of the 8.8% on-year rise expected.
The customs administration today said China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products rose in the first 10 months, as did outbound shipments of textiles including masks, which rose around 35% from a year ago.
The country’s trade surplus with the US – the core gripe in Washington in the nations’ bruising trade war – rose around 19% from last year to US$31.4 billion (RM129.63 billion) last month.
This widened slightly from the US$30.8 billion seen the month before, marking one of the larger surpluses this year according to Chinese figures. – AFP, November 7, 2020
