Exports to US jump 15.1% in Jan-Jul despite rising tension

China-US trade rose by 11.8 percent in yuan terms in the first seven months of this year, data released by Chinese customs showed on Sunday, demonstrating “rigid” US demand for Chinese goods, experts said, though they predicted that China-US trade growth might slow to some extent in the coming months as a result of sinking bilateral relations and US economic woes.

China-US trade rose by 11.8 percent year-on-year to 2.93 trillion yuan ($433 billion) from January to July. The US remains China’s third largest trading partner.

The figures pointed toward a very stable trend over recent weeks, as the data is almost on par with China-US trade in the first six months of this year, which amounted to an 11.7 percent growth in yuan terms.

He Weiwen, an executive council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said that China-US trade is largely backed by US markets’ stable demand for Chinese goods.

In the first seven months of the year, China’s exports to the US rose 15.1 percent to 2.25 trillion yuan, while imports rose 2.3 percent on a yearly basis. China’s trade surplus with the US widened by 21.7 percent to 1.57 trillion yuan.

“This showed that despite tense political or strategic relations between the two countries, the integrated supply chain situation between China and US markets remains unchanged, as trade is not decided by the White House, but by markets and businesses,” he said.

He noted that political power cannot completely shake China-US economic interaction, and particularly against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown, the importance of Chinese products to the US economy is obvious to all.

“Trade is not decided by the White House, but by markets and businesses,”

He Weiwen an executive council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies