China’s export growth slows to six-month low as US orders plunge

[BEIJING] China’s export growth slowed to the weakest in six months as shipments to the US plunged at a faster rate.

Sales abroad rose 4.4 per cent in August from a year earlier to US$322 billion, according to a statement from the General Administration of Customs on Monday (Sep 8). That was weaker than the median forecast for 5.5 per cent growth.

Imports climbed 1.3 per cent, leaving a trade surplus of US$102 billion.

China’s trade has been rapidly shifting this year. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have slashed direct demand from the US, causing companies to seek out alternative markets or ship indirectly to the world’s biggest economy.

Exports to the US fell 33 per cent in August, the fifth month of double-digit declines. Meanwhile, shipments to the 10-nation South-east Asian trading bloc rose almost 23 per cent, while exports to the European Union climbed 10 per cent and those to Africa were up 26 per cent.

Even after the slowdown, China’s trade surplus is still on course to handily exceed last year’s record of almost US$1 trillion, with overseas sales making up for weaker domestic demand.

Still, falling prices and cutthroat competition mean that many companies are in the red despite the rising export revenue, with industrial profits falling almost 2 per cent in the year to July.

A gauge of China’s new export orders has been at a multi-month low, boding ill for foreign demand in the period ahead. BLOOMBERG