China’s exports grew at a slower pace than expected in March, although global demand remained strong, while imports rose as raw material prices rose.
Exports rose 30.6% in dollars in March from a year earlier, customs data showed on Tuesday lower than the median forecast of 38% in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Imports increased 38.1%, leaving a trade surplus of $ 13.8 billion for that month, well below the expected $ 52 billion.
Successful record imports
Exports are also returning, but not as strongly
Source: China General Administration of Customrs
Although growth slowed from a record gain in February, data show that the momentum of exports remained strong in March, as the launch of vaccines and the recovery of global growth helped boost demand.
“Export performance remains a theme in China’s recovery,” Peiqian Liu, an economist at Natwest Markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, adding that it was due to “a combination of global recovery demand and China’s role in global level gaps in the supply chain. “
Peiqian Liu, an economist at Natwest Markets, discusses the latest figures on the health of the world’s second-largest economy and its prospects.
Markets: Asia. ”(Source: Bloomberg)
The figures are also distorted by compared to early 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of the world’s second largest economy. Premier Li Keqiang told experts and businesses over the weekend look beyond the ‘basic effect’ and use other data and methods to assess the economic situation.
The World Trade Organization predicts that global trade will grow with 8% this year, the highest gain since 2010, after falling 5.3% in 2020. Although it did not provide any forecasts for China’s foreign trade outlook, the national trade ministry said it would promote stable development. of foreign trade this year.
Xing Zhaopeng, a senior Chinese strategist in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Shanghai, said the increase in imports was due to higher commodity volumes and prices.
“Looking ahead, while rising commodity prices may increase import costs in the short term, the recovery in external demand could offset some of the impact,” he said.
Other details
- Into the in yuan terms, exports rose 38.7% in the first quarter to 4.61 billion yuan ($ 704 billion), while imports rose 19.3% to 3.86 billion yuan, leaving a surplus of 759.3 billion yuan.
- Exports to the US rose 53.3% in March from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus of $ 21.37 billion.
- For a breakdown of imports by country, Click here.
– With the assistance of James Mayger, Lin Zhu, Yinan Zhao and Yujing Liu
(Updates with economists’ comments.)