China China’s Trade Surplus Hits Record But Slowdown Risks Remain

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China’s Trade Surplus at Record High as Exports Beat Expectations， surplus exceeded $100 billion in one month for the first time in history​

Nation’s trade balance climbed to about $101 billion in July​

• Exports grew 18%, beating economists’ estimates for 14.1% gain

Bloomberg News

August 7, 2022, 3:23 AM UTC

China’s trade surplus rose to a record as exports grew faster than expected, easing some concerns over waning global demand and providing support for an economy battling sporadic Covid outbreaks and property woes.

The nation’s trade balance climbed to about $101 billion in July, surpassing the previous record set in June, according to government figures released Sunday. That’s the highest in data compiled since 1987. Exports in dollar terms grew 18% from a year earlier, beating economists’ estimates for a 14.1% gain.

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Highest since 1987, highest in 35 years, speechless, just unstoppable.

 

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China's foreign currency reserves up in July​

2022-08-07 10:43:00

BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange reserves climbed to 3.1041 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of July, up 32.8 billion dollars from June, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed Sunday.

China's foreign currency reserves up in July

China's foreign currency reserves up in July-

english.news.cn

 

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China's foreign trade of goods up 10.4 pct in first 7 months​

2022-08-07 10:17:00

Aerial photo taken on July 29, 2022 shows the Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao Port, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade of goods jumped 10.4 percent year on year to 23.6 trillion yuan (about 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars) during the first seven months of the year, official data showed Sunday.

Exports rose 14.7 percent year on year to 13.37 trillion yuan, while imports increased 5.3 percent from a year ago to 10.23 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs.

China's foreign trade of goods up 10.4 pct in first 7 months

China's foreign trade of goods up 10.4 pct in first 7 months-

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China’s export growth gains steam despite weakening global demand​

SUN, AUG 07, 2022 - 6:05 PM

Employees work on an assembly line producing trucks at a factory in Fuyang in China's eastern Anhui province.

China’s export growth unexpectedly picked up speed in July, offering an encouraging boost to the economy as its struggles to recover from a sharp Covid-induced slump, although imports remained sluggish.

Outbound shipments grew 18 per cent in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace in 2022, official customs data showed on Sunday (Aug 7), compared with a 17.9 per cent rise in June and beating analysts’ expectations for a 15 per cent gain.

Analysts had expected exports to fade amid growing signs of cooling global consumption.

A global factory survey released last week showed demand weakened in July, with orders and output indexes falling to their weakest levels since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

China’s official manufacturing survey indicated activity contracted last month, raising fears that the economy’s recovery from widespread lockdowns in the Spring will be slower and bumpier than expected.

But there were signs that transport and supply chain disruptions caused by the lockdowns were continuing to ease, just in time for shippers preparing for peak year-end shopping demand.

Foreign trade container throughput at eight major Chinese ports rose 14.5 per cent in July, speeding up from the 8.4 per cent gain in June, according to data released by the domestic port association .Container throughput at Covid-hit Shanghai port hit a record high in July.

Import growth was weaker than expected, however, suggesting China’s domestic consumption remains soft. Imports rose 2.3 per cent from a year earlier, compared with June’s 1 per cent gain and missing a forecast of a 3.7 per cent rise.

Analysts have expected import momentum to pick up modestly in the second half of the year, supported by construction-related equipment and commodities as the government ramps up infrastructure spending.

China posted a record US$101.26 billion trade surplus last month as a result of the low reading on imports but solid export growth. Analysts had forecast a US$90 billion trade surplus.

The country’s top economic planner said last week that the economy is in the “critical window” of stabilisation and recovery, and the third quarter is “vital”.

Top leaders recently signalled they were prepared to miss the government economic growth target of around 5.5 per cent for 2022, which analysts said had been looking increasingly unattainable after the world’s second-largest economy narrowly avoided contracting in the second quarter.

In late-July this year, the International Monetary Fund sharply cut its 2022 growth forecast for China to 3.3 per cent from 4.4 per cent in April, citing Covid-19 lockdowns and the worsening crisis in the country’s property sector. REUTERS

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/chinas-export-growth-gains-steam-despite-weakening-global-demand

 

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China-India trade hits $79.77 billion from January to July 2022, China's exports to India grow 37%
Published: Aug 07, 2022 01:21 PM Updated: Aug 07, 2022 01:19 PM

The trade between China and India reached $79.77 billion during the first seven months of 2022, up 18 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on Sunday.

As of July, China's accumulative export volume to India has maintained a high growth rate of 37 percent, 2.5 percentage points higher than the rate in June, and the highest growth rate recorded since January 2022.

China's import from India in July stood at $1.57 billion.

India has been tried to build itself into a global manufacturing hub by conducting a series of protectionist trade policies and carrying out various crackdown measures to squeeze Chinese investments and companies.

However, China-India trade is on course to surpass $100 billion for the second consecutive year in 2022.

Analysts have suggested that China and India share broad prospect for cooperation and the essence of bilateral trade between the two most populous countries in the world is mutually beneficial and win-win.

China-India trade hits $79.77 billion from January to July 2022, rising 18%: customs data - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

 

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China July exports rise, with trade surplus at record-high​

August 7 2022

- Cars and trucks for export are parked at a port in Yantai in eastern China's Shandong Province, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. China’s monthly trade surplus soared to a record $97.9 billion in June as export growth accelerated following the easing of anti-virus controls that temporarily shut down Shanghai and disrupted trade. (Chinatopix via AP,

BEIJING (AP) — China’s export growth continued to rise in July, sending trade surplus to a record high, according to government data.

China’s exports grew 18% to $333 billion compared to the same period last year, and were up from 17.9% in June, according to data from China’s customs.

Imports, however, remained soft, growing 2.3% in July compared to a year ago. That was lower that economists’ estimates of 4%, and suggests weak domestic demand amid lockdowns across the country as China attempts to stem the outbreak of COVID-19.

China’s total trade surplus reached an all-time high of $101.3 billion in July, breaking the record set in June.

The country’s economy has rebounded from earlier in the year, when tough COVID-19 restrictions including a two-month lockdown in Shanghai and other measures across China disrupted manufacturing and logistics.

China July exports rise, with trade surplus at record-high

China’s export growth continued to rise in July, sending trade surplus to a record high. According to data from China’s customs, China’s exports grew 18% to $333 billion compared to the same period last year, and were up from 17.9% in June.

apnews.com

 

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China-US trade up 11.8% in Jan-Jul despite rising tension, China's exports to US up 15.1%
Aug 07, 2022 01:14 PM

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.

According to data from Chinese customs on Sunday, 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 after the EU and ASEAN.

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, according to customs data.

In general, China's foreign trade rose by 10.4 percent in yuan terms year-on-year in the first seven months of this year.

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, which boosted exports from China to the country.

In the first seven months of this 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, customs data showed.

"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.

Hu Qimu, chief research fellow at the Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, said that the recovery of the US economy following the easing of pandemic control measures has boosted US demand for foreign products, a large part of which are made in China.

China-US relations showed signs of rapid deterioration following US House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to the island of Taiwan, prompting a number of countermeasures from the Chinese government against the US, including cancelling China-US cooperation in several fields.

However, He said that since the countermeasures don't target trade, it's unlikely to result in large changes in China-US trading patterns in the second half of this year despite a potential slowdown in China-US trade growth to some extent.

Hu also stressed that as the US employment situation is improving, the Biden administration might take a more hostile stance toward China as the country becomes less dependent on external demand to drive its economy. This could cast a shadow on China-US trade in the third and fourth quarters, but a significant drop is unlikely, he told the Global Times.

China-US trade up 11.8% in Jan-Jul despite rising tension - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

 

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China IPO Market Trounces the World With Record $58 Billion Boom​

Bloomberg News
August 7 2022

(Bloomberg) -- From London to Hong Kong, large initial share sales have all but dried up across the world’s major financial centers this year. But the market in China is bustling with activity.

Initial public offerings on mainland exchanges have climbed to $57.8 billion so far in 2022, the largest ever for such a period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There have been five IPOs of above $1 billion since January, and one more is on the way. That’s versus just one such sale each in New York and Hong Kong, and none in London.

China’s IPO market has defied headwinds such as rising interest rates and fears of a US recession, which have brought major equity fundraising elsewhere to a virtual standstill. Offerings in the Asian economy -- whose monetary policy is diverging from the Federal Reserve -- are largely geared toward local investors.

The surge in listings, according to some market watchers, is also driven by concern that economic conditions could worsen later in the year as flareups in virus cases cause Beijing to stick to the strict Covid Zero strategy. Top leaders have signaled a softening on this year’s official growth target of around 5.5%, denting optimism about a rebound.

“Companies have a stronger willingness for IPO because they see the first half as a better time window to get listed than the time ahead,” said Shen Meng, a director at investment bank Chanson & Co. “They have a weaker outlook for the market and worry that factors including earnings uncertainty could make listing in the future harder than now.”


Secondary Market

With companies rushing to list, China’s share in global IPO proceeds has more than tripled to 44% this year from 13% at end-2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Better performance of newly traded stocks has also been a draw for listing hopefuls. Shares of mainland IPOs are up by an average 43% this year over their listing price, versus the 13% drop seen in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, China’s benchmark CSI 300 Index has fallen about 16% since Dec. 31 -- one of the worst performers among major global equity gauges -- as investors have had to grapple with stringent Covid curbs, a deepening real-estate crisis and a continued crackdown on internet giants.

To be sure, new share sales owe part of their strong performance to the fact that valuation during the IPO is capped by local rules. That typically ends up leaving some gains on the table for the newcomers -- flops happen, but they’re rare.

Some of the deals that boosted the tally in China have political undertones. Telecom provider China Mobile Ltd. and energy producer CNOOC Ltd., the biggest debuts of 2022, both listed at home after being kicked out of the US following their inclusion on a Donald Trump-era blacklist. In China, they raised $8.6 billion and $5 billion, respectively, and are trading well above their listing prices.

“China is a separate market from the rest of the world. Something that is unique among Chinese investors are those patriotic trades,” said Ke Yan, the head of research at DZT Research in Singapore. “Buying stocks that help China to be more independent from rest of the world and to resist transactions from the US is normal.”

Tech Love

Overall though, the tech sector has been one of the busiest for new share sales in China.

Demand for computer component manufacturer Hygon Information Technology Co.’s 10.8 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) IPO exceeded the amount on offer by 2,000 times. Order-taking began on Aug. 3, just as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan rattled global markets.

A semiconductors maker, a manufacturer of digital storage products and a chips producer surged after debuting in the mainland on Friday. Together, their IPOs raised $1.1 billion.

A lot of the stocks now coming to market in China “are from the tech sector, that investors seem eager to buy given the focus on building up home-grown capabilities,” said Brian Freitas, an analyst for independent research platform Smartkarma in Auckland.

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China’s trade surplus exceeded $100 billion in one month for the first time in history

August 8, 2022

Reuters

China’s trade surplus exceeded $100 billion in one month for the first time in history. This is worse news than you might think.

In July, goods worth approximately $333 billion were exported from the Middle Kingdom, and nearly $232 billion of products were imported outside the Wall. As a result, China posted a record trade surplus that customs officials estimated at $101,270,000,000 or $101.27 billion.

Sales abroad were the second highest (after December) in history. Meanwhile, the largest value of foreign purchases has already been recorded four times. Compared with the same period last year, exports increased by 18 percent, while imports – by 2.3 percent. This year, the dynamics of imports was higher than exports only once.

Analysts have been looking for signs of weak exports for months, pointing to, among other things, the People’s Republic of China’s zero-Covid policy, disruption to global supply chains, declining demand for goods abroad as warehouses become more filling, or other societies’ overburdened capacity for Chinese surpluses. This is not visible in international trade data, although it is suggested, for example, by PMI readings.

While exports remain strong, imports are hitting weakly. A slight increase in the nominal value of foreign purchases means that in real terms – under conditions of rapid price growth – fewer goods from abroad go to the Middle Kingdom.

China: trade surplus exceeded 100 billion dollars

/ Reuters China’s trade surplus exceeded $100 billion in one month for…

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