Germany’s trade balance narrowed in November, with imports gaining speed in a sign that domestic growth is gathering importance in Europe’s largest economy.
Exports, the backbone of the German economy, rose less than forecast, gaining 0.5 percent on the month adjusted for seasonal swings, less than the 0.8 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll .
Adjusted imports rose 4.1 percent, figures from the German Federal Statistics Office showed, putting the trade surplus at 11.8 billion euros (US$15.3 billion), down from a revised 14.2 billion in October.
“Rising imports are a sign of domestic demand picking up. That is our contribution to the growth of eurozone countries, for many of which we are the most important trade partner,” Holger Sandte at West LB said.
“Exports, too, will go well, even if growth will not be as strong as in 2010,” Sandte said.
Germany’s economy is expected to have expanded by more than 3 percent last year, emerging quickly from its deepest post-war recession the year before that and leaving behind peers in the eurozone still in, or on the brink of, recession.
A Reuters poll had forecast exports would rise 0.8 percent on the month, while imports would increase by 1.2 percent.
However, retail sales, also published on Friday, fell 2.4 percent on the month in November when adjusted for inflation.
The volatile number comprises about three-quarters of all retail sales in Germany.
In other news, Germany’s economy minister on Thursday slammed conditions for Western firms operating in China as Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) arrived for a visit to Berlin as part of a European tour.
Li, widely tipped to be the next premier, arrived for talks with the minister, Rainer Bruederle, ahead of meetings yesterday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
Speaking in business daily Handelsblatt, Bruederle said: “Improvements need to be made when it comes to access for German firms on the Chinese market,” citing in particular the insurance and banking sectors.
“Foreign firms still complain about a lack of transparency and predictability,” he said.
“On my visit to China, I often heard complaints that important regulations were introduced suddenly and without consulting the economic players involved,” the minister said.
While Chinese legislation is increasingly in line with world standards, there “are failures in implementing this legislation,” especially in the provinces, Bruederle said.
China and Germany are the No. 1 and No. 2 exporters in the world respectively.
According to Berlin’s statistics, Germany exported 37.3 billion euros in goods to China in 2009, while Chinese exports to Germany reached 56.7 billion euros.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last