China trade ‘revived with full spirit’ in August, and surprised analysts are rethinking the export outlook
- Economists have been suggesting China’s exports growth will come off the boil, but increasing demand for Chinese goods turned a few heads on Tuesday
- Retailers in advanced economies are replenishing their stocks before Christmas, and Chinese manufacturers are capitalising on coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia
Volatile pandemic conditions globally and the constrained production of goods in Southeast Asia, caused by recent Delta variant outbreaks, combined to prop up global demand for Chinese goods last month, leading to a stronger-than-expected surge in exports.
Analysts and economists have been trumpeting their predictions that China’s exports growth will come off the boil in the second half of this year, after they had soared to levels higher than what was seen before the pandemic amid strong demand from locked-down developed countries.
But on Tuesday, official data showed that August’s exports were way up – surprising pundits with 25.6 per cent growth, year on year.
There were rebounds in exports of all kinds of Chinese-made consumer goods, including electronics, furniture, home appliances, toys and recreational products, as retailers in advanced economies started replenishing their inventories ahead of Christmas, analysts said after the official data came out.
[China’s] exports to most advanced economies picked up by the most since the start of the year
There was also an increase in exports of mechanical, electrical and hi-tech products.