China’s foreign trade hits historic high in Q3

CHINA’ S foreign trade has emerged from the woes of the COVID- 19 pandemic and registered strong growth in the third quarter, thanks toast ring of government support policies.

The country’ s foreign trade of goods increased 7.5 percent year on year to 8.88 trillion yuan (US $1.32 trillion) in Q 3, hitting a historic quarterly high, with exports jumping 10.2 percent and imports climbing 4.3 percent in yuan terms, the General Administration of Customs said recently.

The quarterly values of both imports and export shit record high sin Q 3, according to GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen.

In the first three quarters, China’s foreign trade totaled 23.12 trillion yuan, up 0.7 percent year on year, reversing declines reported in the first two quarters when it was weighed down by the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Headline export growth in dollar terms rose further to 9.9 percent year on year in September from 9.5 percent in August, marking the sixth consecutive month of export figures higher than the market forecast.

Imports, meanwhile, surged 13.2 percent from a year earlier, reversing the 2.1 percent yearon-year decline in August, well above market expectations and narrowing the headline trade surplus to US $37 billion in September from US $58.9 billion in August.

China’ s resilience in exports has been mainly driven by its status as the first economy in and the first out of the COVID- 19 pandemic, which contributed to a surge in exports of PPE ( personal protective equipment) and work/ study-from-home products, while competitors were still mired in the pandemic, according to financial services company Nomura.

“China’ s export growth could remain elevated for another couple of months due to re current waves of C OVID19 overseas ,” said Lu Ting, Nomura’s chief China econo - mist .“On the other hand, the September improvement in import growth of most major commodities in volume terms suggests stronger domestic demand and some re stocking .”

The rebound came despite the rise of protectionism and unilateralism this year amid the spread of the pandemic, Li said, adding that the country’s trade structure also improved during the period.

General trade, involving longer production chains and better reflecting the country’ s manufacturing strength, edged up 2.1 percent during the ninemonth period, taking a larger share of the total trade of goods, he said.

Private companies played a significant role in propelling trade growth, with their foreign trade expanding by 10.2 percent in the first three quarters.

The country’s central and western regions contributed more to trade amid further opening- up measures, with foreign trade in the two regions up 8.3 percent year on year during the period.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained China’s largest trading partner in the first nine months, followed by the European Union and the United States. China’s trade with the US rebounded from earlier declines, with the value rising 2 percent to 2.82 trillion yuan over the period. Trade with countries along the Belt and Road, meanwhile, grew 1.5 percent to total 6.75 trillion yuan.

China has rolled out a series of policies including streamlining procedures at customs and cutting costs for firms to mitigate the impact of COVID- 19 on foreign trade. The customs clearance ti me was reduced for the fifth consecutive month in September, Li said.

The country has also introduced incentives for cross-border e-commerce to support sustained trade growth, he said.