Explainer | 4 takeaways from China’s May trade data as exports tumbled
- China’s exports fell by 7.5 per cent in May compared with a year earlier, while imports fell by 4.5 per cent last month
- Beijing has pledged to shore up trade to support the overall economic recovery, but China’s exports have struggled due to weak global demand
Beijing has pledged to shore up trade to support the overall economic recovery, but China’s exports have struggled due to weak global demand.
1. Softening demand catches up with China’s exports
Softening global demand has caught up with the Chinese economy, marking the start of China’s fading export resilience
The export value in May was also the second-lowest since May 2022, only higher than the seasonally affected US$213.8 billion in February.
“Softening global demand has caught up with the Chinese economy, marking the start of China’s fading export resilience. The category comprising hi-tech products contributed most of the pain, as fewer purchases of work-from-home devices, and global tech lay-offs, hit demand,” said Sarah Tan, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“On the upside, automobile exports more than doubled, with the strongest growth coming from electric vehicles. But that was not enough to pick up the slack in other export categories.”
The year-on-year fall of China’s shipments to the United States accelerated to 18.24 per cent in May, compared with 6.5 per cent in April, marking the 10th straight month of decline.