China's trade declined in October as global demand weakened

Posted on November 15, 2022   |  

• Economic growth in the quarter that ended September rose by 3.9% compared to a year ago, from 2.2% in the first six months of 2022.
• However, Chinese trade will weaken due to soft global demand after interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to control inflation.
• Consumer demand was damaged by a “Zero covid” strategy that frequently shut down large sections of cities to contain virus outbreaks, which disrupted business and confined millions of people to their homes for weeks at a time.
• The decline in Chinese demand damaged developing countries that supplied oil, soybeans, and other raw materials and the United States, Europe, Japan, and other suppliers of consumer goods and microchips and other components and technology needed by manufacturers.
• China's politically sensitive trade surplus with the U.S. grew by 29.9% to $34.2 billion.
• Exports to the U.S. grew by 35.3% over a year earlier to $47 billion despite persistent tariff hikes in a trade war over Beijing's technology ambitions and imports of U.S. goods grew by 52.4% to $12.8 billion.