(Bloomberg) -- China’s exports continued to expand in August, as China’s major trading partners gradually resumed business activities. Imports unexpectedly dropped.
Exports rose 9.5% in dollar terms in August from a year earlier, while imports fell 2.1%, the customs administration said Monday. That left a trade surplus of $58.9 billion for the month. Economists had forecast exports would increase by 7.5% and imports would rise 0.2%.
Key Insights
- China’s exports have been surprisingly resilient this year, boosted by sales of medical equipment and supplies related to working from home and home-schooling, including computers and tablets.
- The gradual reopening of many economies in Asia and around the world may provide a further boost for exports of Chinese goods.
- “We believe the resumption of economic activity in the U.S. and the EU will continue to benefit Chinese exports,” Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C). economists led by Li-Gang Liu wrote in a report before the data was released.
- Bilateral trade is the one area of U.S.-China relations that hasn’t worsened recently, with both nations reaffirming their commitment to a phase-one trade deal. Officials have agreed to create conditions to push the deal forward, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
(Updates with US dollar value trade data in second paragraph.)
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