Containers are at Yangshan port in Shanghai, China, August 6, 2019.
Song Aly | Reuters
BEIJING – China’s exports grew slightly more than expected in December, while imports rose less than expected, according to customs data released on Friday.
Exports rose 20.9% year-on-year in US dollars, well above forecasts for a 20% increase according to a Reuters poll.
Imports rose 19.5% in US dollar terms, missing expectations for a 26.3% increase.
The number of December also marks a dropped sharply from November, when imports increased 31.7% over the same period last year. Exports were up 22% year-on-year in November.
Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist, Pinpoint Asset Management, said: “We expect China’s exports to continue to grow strongly in Q1 due to stable global demand and the growing pandemic in many developing countries. develop”.
“For now, strong exports may be the only driver of the Chinese economy. We expect infrastructure investment to be the second driver of growth over the next few months,” he said.
US trade with China increases sharply
The US remains China’s largest trading partner on a one-country basis. Only two regions, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union, trade more with China in 2021, the data shows.
Exports to the United States rose 27.5 percent on the year to $576.11 billion, while imports rose 32.7% to $179.53 billion on the year, customs data showed.
That means in 2021, China’s trade surplus with the US will be $396.58 billion, marking the second consecutive year the surplus has increased since falling from 2018 to 2019 amid tensions. trade with the US.
