Official Chinese customs data showed that “China’s exports rose unexpectedly in July despite weak global demand,” noting that “it rose 18 percent year-on-year from 17.9 percent the previous month.”
That was well above the 14.6 percent growth rate economists had predicted in a Bloomberg News poll.
But imports remained subdued as ongoing measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic made consumers nervous, with imports recording a 2.3 percent rise from 1 percent in June. But that was less than the 4% rise expected by analysts, who had expected the easing of Covid 19 restrictions to boost domestic consumption.
China is the only major economy still on a zero Covid strategy, with sudden shutdowns and lengthy lockdowns hurting business activity and making consumers nervous. China’s overall trade surplus rose to $101.26 billion from $97.9 billion in June.
China recorded the slowest economic growth since the Corona virus outbreak last month, expanding just 0.4 percent in the second quarter due to lockdowns and a weak real estate market, making the government’s target unattainable.
Source: El Iktisad
