China’s exports and imports miss expectations in November as economic worries deepen
A foreign trade container ship is leaving the dock at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, China, on June 7, 2024.
Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
China’s exports and imports both missed expectations in November, with exports rising 6.7% in U.S. dollar terms and imports falling 3.9% from a year ago, data from the country’s customs authority showed Tuesday.
Outbound shipments missed Reuters’ poll expectations of an 8.5% year on year growth. Exports had risen 12.7% in October, marking their highest growth since March 2023, according to LSEG data.
Meanwhile, import data surprised with a decline of 3.9%. Analysts had expected a growth of 0.3%.
The year-to-date exports in U.S. dollar term rose 5.4% to $3.24 trillion, while imports increased 1.2% to $2.36 trillion from a year ago, according to the customs data released Tuesday.
Exports have been a rare bright spot for the world’s second-largest economy that has been marred with lackluster domestic consumption and a prolonged housing downturn.
The November trade data came a day after China’s top leadership pledged to ramp up monetary and fiscal policy stimulus to boost growth next year, and promised “unconventional counter-cyclical adjustments” to bolster domestic consumption demand.
Export growth will likely remain strong going into early 2025, as U.S. importers continue to “front load” Chinese purchases, said Erica Tay, director of macro research at Maybank, while pointing out there could be “a fall-off in the second half” of next year, as U.S. tariffs bite.
Manufacturing activity in the country expanded for a second straight month in November, with the official purchasing managers’ index rising to 50.3, as Beijing’s existing stimulus measures helped lift certain aspects of the ailing economy.
Domestic demand though has remained soft. China’s consumer inflation fell to a five-month low in November, climbing 0.2% from a year earlier, official data on Monday showed.
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