Chinese imports surge as export growth eases

Chinese exports growth slowed marginally in November, official data showed on Tuesday, but imports unexpectedly surged.

According to customs data, exports rose 22% year-on-year, slower than October’s rise of 27.1%. It was, however, ahead of consensus expectations for growth of around 20.3%.

The growth in imports was even stronger, up 31.7% compared to October’s 19.8% rise and well above consensus for a 21.5% improvement.

The strength of imports meant the trade surplus was $71.72bn compared to October’s $84.54bn, the first decline in the balance for nine months. Economists had been looking for closer to $83.6bn.

Craig Botham, chief China+ economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "The slowdown in exports was roughly in line with expectations, as base effects pushed down exports to most partners.

"Stripping out base effects, however, yields a similar picture. With one or two expectations, the only export destinations showing improvement on a month-on-month basis, seasonally adjusted, were in the region. This is slightly disappointing after last month’s improvements, and calls into question whether global bottlenecks are easing.

"Imports look like a more interesting story, given the size of the upside surprise. There were particularly large jumps in imports from energy and commodity producers like Australia, Canada and Russia, as China resolved its energy crisis and cold weather began to bite."

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "Chinese exports have held up well due to businesses ordering early, so that they can build up their pre-Christmas inventory levels, with machines and electronical goods seeing strong demand.

"Imports also picked up, helped by inventory rebuilding as well as decent demand around Singles Day. A rebound in coal imports to deal with an energy shortfall, as well as higher demand for copper, also helped boost the data."