China Dec. exports, imports fall much less than expected after yuan slides

Thursday, 14 January 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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China’s total trade fell in December but far less than expected, with exports outperforming many of its regional peers after the country let the yuan depreciate sharply, highlighting fears of a currency war among Asia’s trade-reliant economies.

“The trade data support our view that, despite turmoil in Chinese financial markets, there has not been a major deterioration in its economy in recent months,” Daniel Martin, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.

Exports from the world’s largest trading nation fell 1.4% from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday, much less than a Reuters poll forecast for an 8% drop and moderating from November’s 6.8% decline.

They also sharply outperformed exports from neighboring countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, analysts noted, and came in the face of entrenched weakness in overseas demand.

December imports fell 7.6%, receding for the 14th straight month but not as sharply as feared, possibly due to factories stocking up on crude oil, iron ore and other materials as global resource and commodity prices continued to fall.

Indeed, China’s crude oil imports hit a record high, while copper imports were the second highest on record.

Economists had forecast an 11.5% import slide, after an 8.7% drop in November.

The combination produced a $60.09 billion trade surplus for December, compared with economists’ expectations of $53 billion and November’s $54.1 billion.

For the full-year, total trade was $3.96 trillion, down 8% from 2014 and China’s worst performance since the global financial crisis. The government had started the year with a target for 6% growth.