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China's exports and imports surged well past market expectations in June, with trade with South Korea and other Asian nations expanding sharply even as commerce with the United States remained essentially flat.
China's General Administration of Customs said Tuesday that June exports reached $412.39 billion, up 27.0 percent from a year earlier.
That figure far exceeded the 18.2 percent growth analysts polled by Reuters had forecast and topped the 19.4 percent gain recorded in May.
June imports came in at $286.76 billion, up 36.0 percent year on year, surpassing both the market forecast of 24 percent and May's 27.4 percent increase.
Total trade for June reached $699.15 billion, a 30.6 percent increase from a year earlier, while the trade surplus stood at $125.6 billion.
For the first half of this year, exports rose 17.6 percent and imports climbed 26.6 percent, with overall trade volume expanding 21.2 percent.
Commodity prices and exchange rate movements left a clear imprint across product categories.
Instability in the Middle East weighed on crude oil volumes: first-half crude imports totaled 247.61 million metric tons, down 11.4 percent from last year. June crude import volumes fell 41.3 percent from a year earlier and 11.5 percent from May.
Rising global oil prices, however, pushed the dollar value of first-half crude imports up 1.8 percent despite the volume decline. Petroleum product import volumes fell 10 percent, yet import value edged up 0.3 percent.
Higher semiconductor prices also drove up trade values.
First-half imports of integrated circuits rose 8.1 percent in volume but jumped 55.8 percent in value, while imports of diodes and semiconductor devices grew 1.8 percent in volume but 12.4 percent in value.
A similar pattern appeared on the export side.
Rare earth export volumes fell 13.2 percent, yet export value rose 14.5 percent. Mobile phone export volumes declined 4.3 percent while export value gained 9.2 percent. Integrated circuit export volumes grew 7 percent, but export value surged 96.1 percent.
Automobiles, by contrast, showed volume and value moving in tandem amid intense price competition — export volumes rose 53 percent and export value climbed 53.9 percent.
Regionally, trade growth with Asian partners outpaced gains with the United States and the EU.
China's exports to the US in the first half totaled $215.9 billion, up just 0.2 percent from last year, while imports from the US slipped 0.8 percent. Overall bilateral trade was essentially unchanged from a year earlier.
Trade with the EU grew more briskly, with exports up 16.8 percent and imports up 8.7 percent, for an overall increase of 14.2 percent.
Trade with South Korea expanded far more sharply.
China's total trade with South Korea in the first half jumped 47.7 percent from last year. Exports to South Korea rose 31.0 percent to $92.7 billion, while imports from South Korea surged 61.5 percent to $138.6 billion.
Trade with other partners also grew strongly: ASEAN was up 22 percent, South America 29.6 percent, Africa 20.3 percent, Australia 45 percent, India 37.2 percent, Japan 28.9 percent and Hong Kong 177.1 percent — underscoring a broader shift in China's trade away from the US and toward Asia and emerging markets.
sjy@heraldcorp.com
