China exports rise 15.6% in Oct, beating expectations

▶ Country not to deliberately pursue trade surplus: expert

China’s import and export growth in October vastly exceeded expectations and the country’s trade surplus with the US further expanded, which an expert tells shows the US-initiated trade war won’t help solve the trade imbalance and won’t ease their tensions.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs on Thursday, China’s exports in October in dollar-denominated terms rose 15.6 percent year-on-year, exceeding the 11.7 percent growth forecasted by analysts. September exports grew 14.5 percent year-on-year.

China’s exports in October in dollar-denominated terms rose 21.4 percent year-on-year, exceeding an expected 14.5 percent growth forecast by analysts. September exports grew 14.3 percent year-on-year.

Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that the central government attached importance to stabilizing imports and exports, said and related departments and local governments provided strong support.

Other reasons he cited included importers and exporters rushing to make deals before tariffs rise caused by the trade war and the yuan’s fall in October.

Imports and exports to major markets such as the European Union, the US, ASEAN and Japan have all increased, and the growth rate of imports and exports along the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) countries and regions is higher than the overall, the data showed.

In the first 10 months, China’s exports to the US increased 8.7 percent year-on-year, imports from US rose 3.7 percent and China’s trade surplus grew 11.5 percent.

“This further proved that the US trade war does not help solve the trade imbalance and does not help ease tensions,” Bai said. “China’s goal is not to deliberately pursue a trade surplus, but pursue a general trade balance.”

This could be seen in China’s trading data with Japan, EU, and BRI route countries, he added.