China’s exports declined unexpectedly in October on weak global growth and imports also posted a surprise fall as the spread of coronavirus restricted supply chains and dampened domestic demand, official data showed on Monday.
Exports dropped 0.3 percent on a yearly basis in October, data released by the General Administration of Customs revealed. This was the first fall in exports since 2020.
Shipments were forecast to grow 4.3 percent after expanding 5.7 percent in September.
Imports decreased 0.7 percent from the last year, reversing a 0.3 percent rise in September. Economists had forecast imports to gain 0.1 percent.
Consequently, the trade surplus rose to $85.15 billion, but below economists’ forecast of $95.95 billion.
Exports are set to weaken further over the coming quarters as the global economy tips into a recession, Capital Economics’ economist Zichun Huang said.
Given the challenging domestic outlook, imports are likely to continue weakening, the economist noted. A third of imported materials are used by China’s export sector. And the property downturn and recurring COVID-19 disruptions will keep domestic demand subdued, said Huang.
Recent Purchasing Managers’ survey showed that inflows of new business in the private sector faltered in October partly due to a further decline in new work from abroad.
In the third quarter, the economy had expanded at a faster pace of 3.9 percent after the relaxation of Covid restrictions. However, the growth rate was short of Beijing’s target of ‘around 5.5 percent’ for the whole year.
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