China trade: export surge continued in December, pushing surplus to record high

Exports grew by 18.1 per cent in December from a year earlier, down from 21.1 per cent growth in November

Imports grew by 6.5 per cent in December from a year earlier, up from 4.5 per cent in November

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China’s exports grew by 18.1 per cent in December from a year earlier, while imports grew by 6.5 per cent. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 10:22am, 14 Jan 2021Updated: 9:19am, 15 Jan 2021

China’s exports continued to surge in December, data released by its customs agency on Thursday showed.

Exports grew by 18.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, down from 21.1 per cent in November but above the consensus result of a survey of analysts, conducted by Bloomberg, which predicted 15.0 per cent growth.

This was the seventh consecutive month of export growth, with China’s factories continuing to capitalise on coronavirus lockdowns in the West.

Imports grew by 6.5 per cent in December from a year earlier, up from 4.5 per cent the month before, and above the consensus forecast of 5.7 per cent.

This was the fourth month of consecutive import growth.

China’s trade surplus rose to a record US$78.18 billion last month, above the previous high of US$75.40 billion in November, as export growth outstripped imports again.

“China is the only one major economy in the world that has reached a positive growth in goods trade [in 2020], the status of [China as] the largest goods trading nation [in the world] has been further consolidated,” said China customs spokesman Li Kuiwen.