(Bloomberg) -- China’s exports rose for the fourth straight month in September while imports surged, pointing to further recovery in global trade and a robust domestic rebound.
Exports grew 9.9% in dollar terms in September from a year earlier, while imports rose 13.2%, the customs administration said Tuesday. That left a trade surplus of $37 billion for the month. Economists had forecast that exports would increase by 10% while imports would edge up 0.4%.
Key Insights
- China’s exports continued to benefit from global economic activity rebounds, despite concerns over its sustainability. Imports improved on the back of a recovery in domestic demand and possible stockpiling of tech industry components ahead of the imposition of further U.S. sanctions on Huawei Technologies Co.
- “Global growth has continued to recover and strong global housing activity in recent months should support Chinese exports of furniture and appliances,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). economists led by Maggie Wei wrote in a note before the data release.
- Exports to the U.S. rose 20.5% to $44 billion and imports increased almost 25% to $13.2 billion, the data showed, resulting in a trade surplus of $30.8 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations.
- The surge in imports “suggest that domestic demand remains on a decent footing,” said Zhou Hao an economist at Commerzbank AG (OTC:CRZBY). “On the other hand, it could also indicate that the global economy is gradually coming back after a long halt.”
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- Soybean imports have risen 15.5% in the year to date, reaching 74.529 million tons
- Purchases from Taiwan jumped 35.8%, and imports from Japan and South Korea rose 13.4% and 17.2% respectively, signaling an increase in activity in Asian manufacturing chains and rising tech purchases.
(Updates with economist quote, further details throughout)
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