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Carol Yang

Ji Siqi

China’s exports recorded a larger-than-expected acceleration in June, as companies took advantage of a 90-day tariff truce with the United States to speed up their shipments.
The world’s top merchandise exporter saw its outbound shipments rise by 5.8 per cent year on year to reach US$325.2 billion last month, according to customs data released on Monday.
The figure follows a reported 4.8 per cent rise in May and eclipses the 3.6 per cent increase forecast in a market survey from Chinese financial data provider Wind.
The country’s imports, meanwhile, rose by 1.1 per cent year on year last month, marking a substantial uptick from the 3.4 per cent decline recorded in May. A poll, also by Wind, had predicted a 0.58 per cent drop in June.


That led China’s trade surplus to rise to nearly US$114.8 billion for the month.
China’s trade growth has remained robust throughout the first half of the year despite an unprecedented trade war with the United States, with exports increasing 5.9 per cent over the first half to US$1.8 trillion.
Imports, however, contracted by 3.9 per cent over the same period to more than US$1.2 trillion, as weak domestic demand continues to drag on China’s economy.
The continued resilience in China’s exports has been driven by a pivot in the country’s trade relations, with a sharp decline in US shipments offset by growing exports to countries across Southeast Asia, Europe and several other regions.
In June, exports to the US showed signs of stabilising following the signing of the tariff truce in mid-May. Shipments declined by 16.1 per cent year on year last month, compared with a 34.5 per cent contraction recorded in May.
Meanwhile, China’s exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) rose by 16.8 per cent and outbound shipments to the European Union increased by 7.6 per cent year on year in June.
Wang Lingjun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, noted at a Monday press conference that China had recorded an uptick in trade with 190 countries and regions over the first half of the year.
“China and US are currently working intensively to implement the outcomes reached under the London framework,” Wang said. “Coercion and blackmail have no future; dialogue and cooperation remain the right path forward.”
Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said that China’s strong exports had helped to partly offset its weak domestic demand, which should keep the economy on track to meet Beijing’s gross domestic product growth target of 5 per cent in the second quarter.
But he added that the economic outlook for China in the second half of the year remained uncertain. “The frontloading of exports will fade out some time,” he said.




Nevertheless, China’s export sector continues to benefit from strong growth in a range of different product categories, especially those linked to the green energy transition.
In the first half of the year, China’s exports of machinery and electrical products grew by 9.5 per cent year on year in value terms, accounting for 60 per cent of the country’s total exports, according to Wang, the customs official.
That included a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in exports of high-end equipment and a 12.7 per cent rise in shipments of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells.
China’s exports of industrial robots grew by 61.5 per cent year on year in the first half, Wang added.
Over the same period, semiconductor exports jumped by nearly 19 per cent year on year, while the country’s chip imports rose by 7 per cent year on year in value terms, customs data showed. Crude oil imports increased by 1.4 per cent year on year in volume terms.
The recent acceleration in China’s exports follows the signing of a “trade truce” deal with the United States in mid-May, which saw both sides scale back tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days while they continued to negotiate a permanent agreement.
Last month, Beijing and Washington held a fresh round of talks in London, where they agreed to ease export controls that had become a roadblock in trade relations. But the two sides have yet to agree a permanent deal to end the trade war, with the 90-day truce set to expire on August 12.
According to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, a new round of talks will be held in early August.
Washington has also been increasing pressure on Southeast Asian countries to clamp down on Chinese goods being re-routed through their markets, with Vietnam signing a deal with the US that reportedly imposes higher tariffs on imports deemed to be transshipped.
US President Donald Trump has sent letters to seven of the 10 Asean member countries informing them of plans to impose higher import duties. Beijing has issued official warnings against countries signing deals that damage its interests.
“They [China] now face a dilemma over whether to grit their teeth and back down, or hit back and risk hurting ties with third countries and derailing the US-China trade truce,” Capital Economics said in a recent note regarding trade re-routing.


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Exports were up 5.8 per cent in June, bucking expectations after the 90-day tariff reprieve agreed with the US in May


Exports were up 5.8 per cent in June, bucking expectations after the 90-day tariff reprieve agreed with the US in May.


China’s exports accelerate in June as US trade truce creates opening

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Exports were up 5.8 per cent in June, bucking expectations after the 90-day tariff reprieve agreed with the US in May

Exports were up 5.8 per cent in June, bucking expectations after the 90-day tariff reprieve agreed with the US in May