China’s export growth slows to 6-month low as US orders plunge
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China's exports to the US fell 33 per cent in August, the fifth month of double-digit declines.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING - China’s export growth slowed to the weakest in six months as shipments to the US plunged at a faster rate.
Sales abroad rose 4.4 per cent in August from a year earlier to US$322 billion (S$413 billion), according to a statement from the General Administration of Customs on Sept 8. That was weaker than the median forecast for 5.5 per cent growth.
China’s trade has been rapidly shifting in 2025. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have slashed direct demand from the US, causing companies to seek out alternative markets or ship indirectly to the world’s biggest economy.
Exports to the US fell 33 per cent in August, the fifth straight month of double-digit declines.
Meanwhile, shipments to the 10-nation South-east Asian trading bloc rose almost 23 per cent, while exports to the European Union climbed 10 per cent and those to Africa were up 26 per cent.
Still, falling prices and cut-throat competition mean that many companies are in the red despite the rising export revenue, with industrial profits falling almost 2 per cent in the year through July.
Export prices have fallen for almost every month since mid-2023, forcing Chinese firms to ship more goods to maintain the same revenue.
The continued rise in volumes is visible in container data. Shanghai’s port handled a record number of containers in August, and all terminals in China processed more than 6.5 million containers for each of the past five weeks.
Imports climbed 1.3 per cent in August, leaving a trade surplus of US$102 billion. China’s surplus is still on course to handily exceed 2024’s record of almost US$1 trillion, with overseas sales making up for weaker domestic demand.
Bloomberg Economics analyst David Qu said: “The top priority now is to boost consumption to offset pressure from soft exports, and we expect the government to keep rolling out policies in this regard.”
If the trade balance continues to grow at the same pace for the rest of 2025, it would exceed US$1.2 trillion, according to Bloomberg calculations, as China runs a wider surplus with Europe, South-east Asia, Africa and Latin America.
However, a gauge of China’s new export orders has been at a multi-month low, boding ill for foreign demand in the period ahead. BLOOMBERG
