Chinese imports leapt last month, boding well for a strengthening of domestic demand in an economy that has become a major driver of global growth.
The unexpectedly big increase in imports also reduced China’s politically contentious trade surplus ahead of US Congressional hearings next week on whether to punish Beijing for what many in Washington see as an unfairly undervalued yuan.
Imports jumped 35.2 percent last month compared with a year earlier, easily beating July’s 22.7 percent rise and market forecasts of a 26.1 percent increase, China’s General Administration of Customs said yesterday.
PHOTO: AFP
Annual export growth slowed to 34.4 percent last month from 38.1 percent in July, but was close to expectations of a 35 percent rise.
That left China with a trade surplus of US$20 billion, still eye-popping but down from US$28.7 billion in July and well below the median forecast of US$27.1 billion.
Dong Xianan (董咸安), chief macroeconomist with Industrial Securities (工業證券) in Beijing, said the data implied a strong rebound in domestic demand.
“A possible reason is that China increased imports of raw materials in the last week of August, driven by political pressure as well as low global commodity prices,” he said.
Coincidentally or not, the Chinese central bank let the yuan climb yesterday to its highest level since it was depegged from the dollar on June 19. Still, the yuan has gained less than 1 percent against the US currency since then.
Moreover, China’s rolling 12-month trade surplus widened last month to US$177.1 billion from US$172.8 billion, handing ammunition to critics who say the country is fixated on exports and is fueling unhealthy global economic imbalances.
Separately, growth in China’s property prices slowed for the fourth straight month last month, National Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday, suggesting that government efforts to pop a feared speculative bubble are paying off.
Housing prices in 70 major cities rose 9.3 percent year-on-year last month, it said, down from 10.3 percent in July.
The slower growth came after China imposed a range of measures to prevent the real-estate sector from overheating and causing a bubble that analysts say could derail the economy.
Prices had surged 12.8 percent in April, the biggest on-year rise for a single month since July 2005, when the survey was widened to 70 cities from 35.
On a monthly basis, property prices were unchanged last month from July, the bureau said.
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