China’s Trade Surges on Strong Global Demand, Commodity Boom By Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — China’s exports rose more than expected in April and imports climbed, reflecting strong domestic and international demand and surging commodity prices.

• Exports grew 32.3% in dollar terms in April from a year earlier, while imports soared 43.1%, the customs administration said Friday. That left a trade surplus of $42.85 billion for the month. Economists had forecast that exports would increase by 24.1% while imports would gain by 44%.

Key Insights

• Global appetite for Chinese goods remained strong in the month, thanks to stimulus packages introduced by developed economies and reliance on China as world’s biggest exporter.
• Imports climbed due to last year’s low base as well as strong domestic demand fueled by the economy’s recovery, and higher commodity prices.
• At the Communist Party’s Politburo meeting last week, China’s top leaders pledged to accelerate the recovery in domestic demand. Leaders also reiterated there would be “no sharp turn” on economic support, as the recovery is neither even nor solid.
• “Looking beyond the pandemic, we think China will continue to rebalance in order to rely more on domestic demand in the longer term and while gradually upgrade itself in the global supply chain,” Liu Peiqian, a China economist at Natwest Group Plc., wrote in a note before the data was released.

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