BEIJING, Jan, 12 (AP) : China's trade surplus swelled to a record $877.6 billion last year as exports rose despite weakening US and European demand and anti-virus controls that temporarily shut down Shanghai and other industrial centres.
Exports increased 7.0 per cent from a year earlier to $3.95 trillion, decelerating from 2021’s explosive 29.9 per cent gain, customs data showed Friday. Imports edged up 1.1 per cent to 2.7 trillion, cooling from the previous year's 30.1 per cent rise as economic growth slowed and consumer spending weakened.
The country's politically volatile global trade surplus expanded by 29.7 per cent from 2021’s record, already the highest ever for any economy.
"China's foreign trade and exports showed strong resilience in the face of many difficulties and challenges," said a customs agency spokesperson, Lu Daliang, at a news conference. Export growth slumped late in the year after the Federal Reserve and other central banks raised interest rates to cool record-setting inflation by slowing economic activity. December exports fell for a third month, contracting by 10.1 per cent from a year earlier to $306.1 billion. That was bigger than November's 9.0 per cent slide.
Last year's exports to the United States edged up 1.0 per cent over 2021 to $581.8 billion despite tariff hikes by President Joe Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, that still are in place on many goods. Chinese imports of American goods declined 1.0 per cent to $177.6 billion.
China's annual trade surplus with the United States, one of the irritants that prompted Trump to hike tariffs, widened by 1.8 per cent from 2021 to $404.1 billion.
Forecasters expect Chinese export growth to weaken further as the possibility of recession in Western economies increases. Some expect this year's exports to shrink.
"China's exports are likely to contract until the middle of the year," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report this week.
Earlier in 2022, trade also was hampered by anti-virus controls that shut down Shanghai and other industrial centres in March for up to two months, disrupting manufacturing and global shipping.
In December, exports to the United States fell 19.5 per cent from a year earlier to $301.1 billion. Imports of American goods shrank 7.3 per cent to $228.1 billion. That produced a $78 billion surplus, down 17.5 per cent from a year earlier.
Exports to the 27-nation European Union tumbled 39.5 per cent to $43.6 billion. Imports of European goods fell 31.3 per cent to $24 billion. China's trade surplus with Europe fell 50 per cent to $19.6 billion.
"Downward pressure on the world economy is increasing," warned the customs agency's Lu. Also in December, Chinese imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, rose 8.3 per cent over a year earlier to $9 billion.
China, the biggest global energy consumer, has stepped up purchases from Russia to take advantage of price discounts after Washington, Europe and Japan cut imports to punish President Vladimir Putin's government for its attack on Ukraine.
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