China’s November exports rise by 21.1% on strong global demand, beating forecasts

China’s exports in November rose at the fastest pace since February 2018, helped by strong global demand for industrial products and raw materials, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Monday.

Exports surged by 21.1 percent year on year to $268 billion, beating forecasts. A Reuters poll earlier predicted a 12-percent growth in exports in November, while China International Capital Corp. Ltd. forecast a 10.8-percent increase. 

Imports rose by 4.5 percent to $192.6 billion, slower than October’s 4.7-percent growth, leading to a trade surplus of $75.4 billion.

China’s export performance once again beat the market expectations, mainly due to the holiday demand surge from the developed markets. Consumer income and spending are supported sufficiently by furlough schemes in the U.S. and Western Europe,” Wang Dan, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank (China), told CGTN.

“However, the change in the U.S. presidency in January may add uncertainties to whether such subsidy programs can sustain at similar scale in the coming months,” Wang added. 

Meanwhile, exports of mechanical and electrical products, textiles, and plastic products increased, while exports of clothing and luggage declined.

Jimmy Zhu, chief strategist at Fullerton Research, told CGTN the decline of exports in these consumer goods is due to the resurgence of the pandemic overseas, which affected demand.