CHINA’S EXPORTS CLIMB IN JAN, FEB ON STRONG GLOBAL DEMAND

BEIJING: China’s exports surged in the first two months of the year, reflecting strong global demand for manufactured goods and with figures partly skewed by the low base in 2020 when the economy was in lockdown.

Exports jumped 60.6% in dollar terms in the January-february period from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Sunday, well above the 40% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. In February alone, exports more than doubled from last year.

The first two months are normally volatile for China’s economic activity because of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February this year. The figures are even more distorted this time around because of the comparison with 2020, when businesses were shut to contain the outbreak in the early part of the year. Exports plunged 17.4% in the first two months of last year.

Even with the favourable base effects, the data shows exports continued to benefit from soaring global demand for medical equipment and workfrom-home devices, which has helped to underpin China’s V-shaped recovery from the pandemic since the second half of the year.

The customs agency said the strong trade data reflects improving demand in major trading partners like the US and Europe, a domestic recovery that’s fuelling import growth, and base effects from last year’s slump.

Exports also benefited from a shorter-than-usual vacation for migrant workers during this year’s Lunar New Year break and the early resumption of factory production. Travel restrictions imposed early in the year prevented many workers from making their annual trip home during the holiday.