China’s exports, imports drop in August but show signs of stabilisation
consumer spending in the economy. According to customs data released on Thursday, China’s exports dipped 8.8% year-on-year (YoY) to $284.87 billion in August, registering its fourth straight month of decline. However, exports beat a forecast of 9.2% fall in a Reuters poll and off a 14.5% drop in July.
Meanwhile, imports contracted 7.3% to $216.51 billion, also slower than an expected 9.0% decline and last month's 12.4% fall. China’s total trade surplus in the last month fell to $68.36 billion from $80.6 billion in July. The year-on-year contraction of outbound shipments to the United States, Australia and ASEAN nations narrowed from July, Reuters reported.
China's economy is at risk of missing Beijing's annual growth target of about 5% amid a worsening property slump, weak consumer spending and tumbling credit growth that have led analysts to downgrade forecasts for the year. Also Read: China: Housing crisis spurs record defaults, threatens to engulf surviving developers China has announced a series of measures in recent months to pump prime growth, including easing of some borrowing rules last week by the central bank to aid homebuyers. Analysts believe the customs data shows signs of stabilisation but the world’s second largest economy still has a long way to go.
As per the data, South Korean shipments to China dropped just a fifth last month, slowing from a decrease of 27.5% a month earlier. Declines in trade with the United States, Southeast Asia and Australia also narrowed. Trade with Japan dropped sharply, with outbound shipments from China to Japan plunged 20% YoY in August, while imports dropped by 17%.
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