A cargo ship carrying containers is seen near Yantian Port in Shenzhen following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), China’s Guangdong province, 17 May 2020.
Martin Pollard | Portal
BEIJING — China’s exports fell 0.3% in October from a year earlier, missing Portal’ expectations for a 4.3% rise.
Last month’s decline in U.S. dollars marked a sharp decline from a 5.7% year-on-year rise in September and the first year-on-year decline since May 2020, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.
Imports fell 0.7% in US dollar terms in October, also missing expectations for modest 0.1% growth and a 0.3% decline in September.
China’s trade with countries and regions was only available in yuan for the current year as of Monday morning. The US remained China’s largest trading partner on a country basis, the data showed.
For the year to October, Chinese exports to the US slowed to a pace of 8.4% compared to 10.1% in September. Imports from the US grew 1.7% in October, faster than the 1.3% in the previous month.
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In addition to ongoing Covid controls, last month was the biannual Chinese Communist Party Congress, where President Xi Jinping consolidated his power.
Last week, Barclays lowered its forecast for China’s economic growth next year on expectations that falling demand from the US and EU would cause Chinese exports to fall by at least 2%.
The prospects of an economic downturn in the EU and the US have increased in recent months. Many big American tech companies have recently announced layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.
The US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes have strengthened the greenback against other currencies. According to Refinitiv Eikon, the yuan weakened nearly 3% against the US dollar in October.
In yuan terms, exports rose 7% and imports rose 6.8%, tariffs data released on Monday showed.