China’s politically sensitive trade surplus with the US last month soared to a record US$75.4 billion as exports surged 21.1 percent from a year earlier, propelled by US consumer demand.
Exports to the US rose 46 percent, despite lingering tariff hikes in a trade dispute with Washington, customs data showed yesterday.
Total exports rose to US$268 billion, accelerating from October’s 11.4 percent growth. Imports gained 5 percent to US$192.6 billion, up from the previous month’s 4.7 percent.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Chinese exporters have benefited from the economy’s relatively early reopening after the Chinese Communist Party in March declared the country’s COVID-19 outbreak under control, while foreign competitors still are hampered by anti-disease controls.
“Exports were much stronger than expected in November,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics Ltd said in a report.
Forecasters have said that the surge is unlikely to last into next year once COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out.
“We expect export performance to be less impressive,” Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics Ltd said in a report.
China’s global trade surplus for the first 11 months of this year reached US$460 billion, up 21.4 percent from a year earlier, already one of the highest ever recorded.
Exports to the US rose to US$51.9 billion, while imports of US goods gained 33 percent to US$14.6 billion.
The trade surplus with the US swelled 52 percent from a year earlier to US$37.3 billion.
Beijing promised to buy more US soybeans, natural gas and other exports as part of the “phase one” trade agreement signed in January and aimed at ending a costly tariff battle over Chinese technology ambitions.
China fell behind on meeting those commitments earlier in the year, but is catching up as demand rebounds.
The two governments agreed to postpone further planned tariff hikes on each other’s goods, but most penalties already imposed on billions of dollars of imports stayed in place.
Chinese imports are growing faster by volume than by value, because demand has been chilled by the shutdown of travel and industry, driving prices lower.
China’s exports to the 27-nation EU last month rose 8.6 percent from a year earlier to US$37.5 billion, while imports of European goods gained 4.5 percent to US$26.2 billion.
Its trade surplus with Europe widened by 20 percent to US$11.3 billion.
Units of Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co are targeting to resume full operations of their Ho Chi Minh City plants by the end of next month, a move that could provide relief to global supply chains. Saigon Hi-Tech Park is helping its tenants, many of which are running at about 70 percent capacity, to operate fully next month, park deputy manager Le Bich Loan said in a phone interview. She did not elaborate on the steps the park is taking, particularly efforts at bringing back workers who fled to home provinces. The Ho Chi Minh City unit of Nidec Sankyo Corp,
CHIP CRUNCH: Apple’s woes show that even the king of the technology world is not immune from global shortages made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic Apple Inc is likely to slash its projected iPhone 13 production targets for this year by as many as 10 million units as prolonged chip shortages hit its flagship product, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company had expected to produce 90 million new iPhone models in the final three months of this year, but it is now telling manufacturing partners that the total would be lower because Broadcom Inc and Texas Instruments Inc are struggling to deliver enough components, the people said. Apple gets display parts from Texas Instruments, while Broadcom is its longtime supplier of wireless components. One Texas
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), the nation’s two major airlines, reported accelerated revenue growth in the third quarter compared with the previous two quarters, thanks to robust air cargo business. EVA Airways yesterday said sales for last quarter rose 40 percent year-on-year to NT$25.81 billion (US$917 million), compared with an increase of 25 percent in the second quarter and a fall of 35 percent in the first quarter. China Airlines said sales grew 39 percent to NT$34.6 billion in the third quarter, after gaining 10 percent in the second quarter and falling 14 percent in the first quarter. EVA
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is embarking on a recruitment drive to hire 200,000 workers in Shenzhen, China, as it ramps up production of the new iPhone 13 series, Chinese business news outlet Eastmoney.com reported. Hon Hai is seeking to recruit those heading back to the city after China’s seven-day National Day holiday, which began on Oct. 1, to help churn out the estimated 100,000 iPhone 13s produced on the site each day, the report said. Following last month’s global release of the iPhone 13, Hon Hai entered its traditional peak season, and workers at its Chinese production sites are said
RSS