China's perennial trade surplus with the United States narrowed to around $295.8 billion in 2019, down 8.5 percent from the previous year's record of $323.3 billion, according to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
For December alone, China's surplus with the U.S. stood at $23.2 billion compared to $24.6 billion in November. On the other hand, China's foreign trade volume with the world was slightly lowered year-on-year in 2019, and its surplus with the world stood at $421.5 billion.
Also in December, China's exports increased 7.6 percent year-on-year, the highest growth since July and above the 2.9 percent forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports rocketed 16.3 percent, far exceeding estimates, and partly due to a jump in pork and beef imports. For the full year 2019, China's exports rose slightly by 0.5 percent while imports fell 2.8 per cent. Analysts say the import weakness reflects the downside effects of Trump's trade war against China.
In November and December, Chinese imports from the U.S including of soybeans and pork, have accelerated, said GACC spokesman Zou Zhiwu. Zou noted the higher import volume from the U.S. wouldn't affect China's purchases from other countries.
He also said trade tensions between China and the U.S. had put some pressure on China's foreign trade and firms that largely trade with the U.S.
"Although our exports to the U.S. have declined, the effectiveness of enterprises diversifying their markets has been significant," said Zou. He revealed exports to non-U. S. Markets have risen and that China's overall exports are still rising.
China's meat imports jumped over the past 12 months due to the raging African swine fever (ASF) crisis as the country was forced to import 2.108 million ton of pork, which represents a 75 percent spike year-on-year. Beef imports were also hefty and rose 60 percent year-on-year. ASF has killed about half of China's entire pig population. There are, however, signs the epidemic might be slowing down.
The data was released on Tuesday, the day before U.S. and Chinese trade representatives were to sign the hazy but eagerly anticipated phase one trade deal in Washington D.C. No details of the phase one deal have been released to the public.
Trump administration officials claim China has committed to buy U.S. products worth $200 billion over a two-year period. On the other hand, China has refused to publicly confirm the Trump administration claims.
