Photographer: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg
Photographer: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg
China’s export boom continued in December, raising its trade surplus to a record high in the month and boosting the world’s best-performing major economy.
The weakening of shipping is insatiable global appetite for work-from-home technology and healthcare equipment, as Covid-19 continues to increase in many parts of the world. The demand is so strong that it contributes to a bottleneck at ports as manufacturers complain about a shortage of cargo containers and rising costs.
Record surplus
The growing demand for China’s goods pushes the surplus to a record
Source: China’s General Customs Administration
The earlier control of virus cases last year enabled China’s factories to capitalize on global demand while keeping its competitors on their knees. The export momentum is expected to continue, even as vaccines are rolled out to curb the spread of viruses and restore industrial production in the US and Europe.
The fierce year also underscores China’s role as a backbone of global supply chains, even as political tensions with the US and other competitors have stifled.
“The biggest takeaway is that China’s exports have remained surprisingly resilient despite the return of the second wave in major economies,” said Michelle Lam, a major China economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong.
The trade data showed a rising demand across the board:
- Exports grew by 18.1% in dollars in December from a year earlier – softer than the 21.1% expansion in November – while imports rose by 6.5%, beating both economists’ expectations .
- The trade surplus of $ 78.2 billion for the month was higher than the average estimate of $ 72 billion in a Bloomberg survey of economists. For the full year, the trade surplus reached $ 535 billion, an increase of 27% over 2019 and the highest since 2015
- Exports to the US increased by 34.5% in December from a year earlier, while imports of US goods increased by 47.7%, the most since January 2013. Click here for a breakdown of Chinese exports by country, and here for import
- For the full year, the US trade surplus was $ 317 billion, 7% higher than in 2019
- Only on face masks did factories carry out the equivalent of almost According to the customs agency, there are 40 masks for every person in the world outside of China
“Demand for China’s goods may remain strong in the next few months with the recent rise of Covid infections in the US and Europe,” Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia, told Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong .
Performance will inevitably decline as the virus is controlled in major markets, including the US and Europe, and industrial production recovers, he added.
What does Bloomberg’s economy say …
The data showed that external demand is pushing up China’s economic recovery, and is likely to continue in the coming months. Exports should jump in the first quarter, partly due to stronger US demand from the expected economic relief package.
– David Qu, Economist in China
For the full report, see here
Li Kuiwen, an official of China’s General Customs Administration, said the trade surplus could continue growth this year, supported by an expected recovery in the world economy and stable domestic growth.
Jian Chang, China’s chief economist at Barclays Plc in Hong Kong, said the data supported local evidence from South Korea and Vietnam of strong demand.
“The external recovery has continued,” Chang said. “Chinese manufacturers have adapted their production lines so that they can manufacture goods to meet the new Covid era.” Both pandemic and non-pandemic related goods are growing strongly, she said.
Read more: China has made 40 face masks for every person around the world
The data is unlikely to shift the central bank from its position of gradually withdrawing the monetary stimulus, but without any sharp turnaround in policy, Chang said.
Catch the lead
Southeast Asian countries become China’s leading trading partner by 2020
Source: China’s General Customs Administration
The figures also showed the shifts in China’s trading partners last year, with the ten-member group of Southeast Asian countries rising to number 1, followed by the European Union and the US
– With the help of James Mayger, Lin Zhu, Enda Curran, Lucille Liu and Ailing Tan