China, east Asia boost share of global trade in 2020 after rapid recovery from coronavirus pandemic: UNCTAD

Name: RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal
Uploaded: 2021-02-10T06:05:29.000Z
Duration: 3 min 29 s
Description: RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal

China boosted its share of global exports more than any other nation in 2020, followed by Taiwan and Vietnam, according to a new United Nations report

Global trade dropped 9 per cent in 2020, with trade in goods declining by 6 per cent and trade in services decreasing by 16.5 per cent

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Global trade dropped 9 per cent in 2020, but China and some east Asian nations recorded gains in their share of exports. Photo: Bloomberg

Amanda Lee

Published: 2:05pm, 10 Feb 2021Updated: 2:05pm, 10 Feb 2021

China and some east Asian nations racked up gains in their share of global exports in 2020, propelled by their ability to weather the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday.

China boosted its share of global trade the most, followed by Taiwan and Vietnam, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

The United States, which is locked in a trade and technology rivalry with China, saw its overall export share decline more than any other nation, followed by Russia and the European Union bloc.

“The fall in global demand brought by Covid-19 has forced the least competitive suppliers out of global markets, while enabling the most competitive suppliers to thrive during the recovery process,” UNCTAD said.

03:29

RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal

China was able to capture more market share in a number of sectors, including transport equipment and road vehicles, but lost ground to competitors Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan on communication equipment and office machinery.

UNCTAD said goods trade from east Asia grew 12 per cent in the last quarter of 2020 compared to a year earlier, driven by the recovery of trade among developing countries.