ExplainerChina exports surge, but trade war escalation looms: 5 takeaways from October trade data
China’s exports last month posted their fastest growth since July 2022, while imports fell
1. Exports post fastest growth since July 2022
“Export values grew, year on year, at the fastest pace in more than two years, and export volumes picked up too,” said Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics.
But Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the better-than-expected export growth “may partly be driven by exporters trying to front-load shipments to mitigate the damage” they expect next year from potential trade war repercussions.
US president-elect Donald Trump has hinted at potential tariffs of 60 per cent on shipments from China.
“Despite mounting trade barriers, Chinese exports continued to defy gravity,” said Sarah Tan, an economist at Moody’s Analytics in Singapore.
Notably, cars and steel are among the products under international fire, but shipments of both still saw year-on-year increases in the double digits, Tan said.