China announced trade values for April, with both import and export growth hitting another high value in April compared to the same month last year, driven by increased exports of new crown (CCP virus) prevention products and large purchases of electronic products.
China’s General Administration of Customs announced that China’s imports rose 43.1 percent in April, the fastest growth rate since 2011. AFP reported that this high value was partly due to a low base of comparison due to the impact of the epidemic last year, when Chinese exports fell 4% in April. Meanwhile the value was slightly lower compared to the 44 percent increase in imports made by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The General Administration of Customs said that China’s purchases of electronic products have greatly boosted imports. From January to April this year, China’s electronics imports rose 30.8 percent year-on-year. Against the backdrop of a global shortage of semiconductor chips, China has increased its overseas purchases, and Chinese imports have jumped 38.1 percent in March due to an increase in electronics imports.
In addition, Rajiv Biswas, an economist at Essin Huamai, told AFP that the rebound in Chinese domestic consumption was also one of the factors contributing to the increase in imports.
On the export side, China’s exports surged 32.3 percent year-on-year in April, well above analysis expectations (24.1 percent). Chinese exports plunged 17.2 percent in the same month last year. Zhang Zhiwei, an economist at PinPOINT, a Hong Kong-based investment fund, said the U.S. is gradually emerging from the epidemic and the booming economic recovery is stimulating global demand and benefiting China. And as India’s production has been affected by the full-scale epidemic, some international orders have shifted to China.
India’s severe epidemic has also boosted exports from China, said Nomura Securities analyst Ting Lu, adding that India’s purchases of masks, protective equipment and other epidemic prevention materials from China rose 144 percent in April.
In terms of trade surplus, China’s total trade surplus reached $42.85 billion in April, almost three times the $13.8 billion surplus in March. The trade surplus with the U.S. climbed again to $28.11 billion; the surplus with the EU reached $13.12 billion. ASEAN countries now exceed the EU and the U.S. as China’s largest trading partners by far, with China’s trade with ASEAN amounting to about $25.8 billion, an annual increase of 27.6 percent, accounting for 14.8 percent of China’s total foreign trade
Recent Comments