China’s trade surplus ballooned to more than $1 trillion in October, official data showed on Tuesday, reaching the milestone even earlier than last year’s record-breaking sum.
Exports from the world’s second-largest economy have surged in recent months, driven in part by soaring global demand for artificial intelligence-related products including computer chips, data centre servers and networking equipment.
The trade boom has offered Beijing a key economic lifeline as domestic activity is weighed by longstanding woes in the once-roaring property sector.
The figures come ahead of another high-stakes meeting between President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China next week.
Exports jumped 35.2% year-on-year to $412.3 billion last month, according to the General Administration of Customs, while imports expanded 41.6% to $307.1 billion.
The figures brought China’s total trade surplus during the first 10 months to a towering $1.04 trillion, according to the GAC.
“Exporters have been the key driving force behind China’s economy this year,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote.
“I expect they will continue to perform well in the foreseeable future,” he said, adding that he did not think “China’s macro policy stance will change significantly for the rest of the year”.
The country is well on track to surpass the record $1.2 trillion hit last year, when the $1 trillion mark was reached in November.
However, the export boom has fuelled tensions with several key trading partners, who worry that floods of lower-cost Chinese goods are crowding out local competition.
Xi-Trump summit
Exports to the United States surged 32.9% last month, the GAC data showed.
Xi and Trump have navigated a shaky truce to a fierce trade war since their meeting in October last year, agreeing recently to extend the arrangement ahead of talks that were held in Washington in September.
They are expected to hold another head-to-head at the APEC gathering, which runs from November 18 to 19 in Shenzhen and could also see Trump, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold trilateral talks.
Trade tensions between Beijing and the European Union have been building in recent months.
Tuesday’s data showed China’s surplus with the 27-nation bloc had swelled to $310.7 billion in January-October – topping the $241.6 billion recorded during the same period last year.
The lopsided shipments have put increasing pressure on Brussels to defend local industries from what critics call unfair competition from Chinese exports.
Talks last month in Beijing between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao ended with an agreement to limit exports of hybrid vehicles to Europe.
Analysts say Beijing is relying heavily on exports to achieve its official growth target for this year of 4.5-5.0%, its lowest goal in decades.
Domestic consumption has been sluggish for several years, with data Monday showing inflation was still well short of the official target of around 2%.
