China's Exports Rebound, Imports Growth Slows In March
13 April 2017 - 11:12AM
RTTF2
China's exports rebounded at a faster than expected pace, while
growth in imports slowed in March, data from the General
Administration of Customs showed Thursday.
In dollar terms, exports grew 16.4 percent year-on-year in
March, reversing February's 1.3 percent decline. Shipments were
expected to rise 3.4 percent.
At the same time, imports advanced 20.3 percent after expanding
38.1 percent in February. Economists had forecast a 15.5 percent
increase.
As a result, the trade surplus totaled $23.9 billion in March,
smaller the expected surplus of $12.5 billion.
Exports grew 22.3 percent and imports climbed 26.3 percent in
yuan terms in March.
In the first quarter, exports increased 14.8 percent and imports
surged 31.1 percent.
The upshot is that external demand appears to have strengthened
further at the end of the first quarter, a trend that seems to be
confirmed by the robust export growth also seen elsewhere in the
region, Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at Capital
Economics, said.
On the other hand, there are signs that the jump in imports on
the back of China's recent economic recovery may now be starting to
lose steam, the economist noted.
Admittedly, a drop back in commodity price inflation explains
some of the decline in import growth but import volume growth
appears to have eased as well, suggesting that the tighter policy
stance has begun to weigh on domestic demand, the economist
said.
The World Trade Organization on Wednesday said the global trade
is set to expand 2.4 percent this year, but only if the global
economy recovers as expected and governments pursue the right
policy mix.
However, the WTO said the lack of clarity about government
action on fiscal and trade policies raises the risk that trade
activity will be stifled.
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