China: Defying Forecasts, October Exports Ensure Trade Surplus of $84 Billion

The trade surplus was forecasted to be at $65.55 billion.

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In China, the performance of exports eclipsed predictions and ensured a Chinese trade surplus of $84 billion, Reuters reported on Monday, 8 November.

The surplus was forecasted to be at $65.55 billion.

Some of the reasons that analysts believe led to such a surplus were high global demand ahead of the winter holidays, a gradually improving situation of the power crunch, and the smoothening of supply chains that had been seriously impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

China has been facing a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

The customs department reported that the value of exports was around $300.2 billion, up approximately 27 percent from last year's October, according to The Hindu.

Imports were valued at around $215.7 billion, an approximately 20.5 percent rise from a year ago.

While the numbers clearly show a boost in both exports and imports compared to what they were a year ago, there continues to be widespread anxiety about the state of the Chinese economy which has undoubtedly suffered due to Xi Jinping's strict COVID-19 lockdowns and other regulations.

Restrictions have led to a drop in both travel and consumer demand.

Additionally, China is also grappling with power shortages that have reduced industrial production, while the real estate crisis refused to die down.

The October numbers are still, however, something to cheer about. Trade surplus in September was $66.8 billion, compared to October's $84 billion.

The surplus with the United States reduced to $40.7 billion from $42 billion in September.

(With inputs from Reuters and The Hindu.)