China exports soared at the fastest rate in 19 months in October while its imports were also up, official figures showed Saturday, as the second-biggest economy in the world continued to bounce back following the pounding it sustained from the global health crisis this year.
China's October exports climbed almost 12% compared to the previous year, exceeding market observers' estimates of a 9.3% advance and rallying from a nearly 10% growth in September.
Growth in the country's export extended rallies last month courtesy of electronics exports including Apple's latest iPhone versions, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group economist Xing Zhaopeng said. "Import slowed surprisingly because of the moderation of crude oil and coal imports," Bloomberg News quoted him as saying.
China's Customs office said that the country's electrical and mechanical products exports increased in the first 10 months, as did outbound deliveries of textiles including face masks, which was up around 35% from a year earlier.
China's meat imports increased by over 75% in the first two quarters while procurements of toiletries and cosmetics were up around 26%. Imports of grain soared 21%.
Although Chinese imports were below estimates, shipments remained strong for integrated circuits and iron ore in the face of frictions with Australia, a major exporter of the commodity, Tommy Xie, director of Greater China research at OCBC Bank, said.
The rally in China's exports lifted its trade excess to over $58 billion and rose almost 35% compared to the same quarter in 2019. The surplus remained at $37 billion in October. China's trade surplus with the U.S. grew to more than $31 billion for the month from $31 billion the previous month. This grew moderately from the $30.7 billion seen from the month earlier, marking one of the bigger excesses for 2020, Chinese trade data shows.
China's surprise uptick in exports suggests the trade is becoming more resilient as it copes with the resurgence of COVID across the globe. The slowdown in imports may mirror a more seasonal impact, but a rally for a second straight month indicates a continued recovery in local demand.
China has better recovery from the pandemic compared to other countries and has a comparative edge, so it has snagged a bigger slice of the market, Commerzbank Singapore economist Zhou Hao said.
However, some market strategists noted that exports could come under pressure in the next few months, as European economies including Britain, Germany, and France reimposed lockdown as a dreaded second wave of COVID cases gathered strength.
