China’s imports and exports continued to decline in August as slowdown in global demand persisted, but less steep than expected.
According to an official data reported on Thursday, China’s exports in U.S. dollar terms fell by 8.8% in August when compared to last year. Still, it was better than a 9.2% drop forecast by a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, imports data for last month came in with a plummet of 7.3%, but still better than a 9% drop estimated by Reuters.
A brief spike in economic growth from the world’s second largest economy proved to be short-lived as critical indicators showed continuous decline month after month from early this year. Imports have now fallen every month in 2023 when compared with year-on-year data. Meanwhile, exports started to fall year-on-year for every month since April.
China reported a trade surplus in US dollar-term at $68.36 billion, lower than a forecast for $74 billion.
