China’s imports and exports grew a lot less than expected in July, resulting to lifted concerns over whether global demand is cooling down even as major Western central banks consider cutting years of hue stimulus support.
China and Europe have been driving an upscale of global growth shares this year a political conflict hinders stimulus policies being launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
But while China’s overall trade continued to grow at a healthy pace in July, it was at its slowest rate this year, growing 8.8 percent.
Official data showed that China’s export growth reduced to 7.2 percent in July from last year, its weakest pace since February and cooling from an 11.3 percent rise in June. Analysts however, expected a 10.9 percent gain.
China’s imports climbed 11.0 percent, down from its 17.2 percent rise from last month and being the slowest growth since December. It also missed analysts’ expectations of a 46.6 percent growth.
These left China with a trade surplus of $46.74 billion for July, the highest since January, compared with forecasts for $46.08 billion and June’s $42.77 billion. The July trade figures are preliminary.
China’s exports to the United States climbed 8.5 percent in July on-year, the slowest pace since February, while imports from the U.S. advanced 24.2 percent.
China has reported a trade surplus with the U.S. of $25.2 billion for July, declining slightly from June, which in was a two-year high.
Despite a sharp rebound in the value of the yuan against the dollar in recent months, with the yuan gaining 3.5 percent so far this year, analysts downplayed its impact on trade flows.
In yuan terms, growth in exports and imports also downshifted markedly, to 11.2 and 14.7 percent, respectively.