China posts first trade deficit in three years
March 13, 2017 Category Foreign trade, Weekly
China reported its first monthly trade deficit in three years, due to a surge in imports to CNY886.68 billion in February, while exports rose just 4.2% from a year earlier to CNY826.32 billion, leaving a trade deficit of CNY60.36 billion, the General Administration of Customs said. The last time China reported a trade deficit was in February 2014 when imports exceeded exports by USD31.5 billion. In the first two months of this year, China still recorded a trade surplus of CNY293.65 billion. The surge in imports was largely attributed to China’s domestic economic recovery and a rebound in key commodity prices. The average price of imported iron ore surged 83.7% in the first two months from a year earlier, while the average price of imported crude oil jumped 60.5%. Analysts also said it was possible that there were capital outflows disguised as import costs as investors can deliberately inflate imports to move money out of China. According to China’s customs authorities, China had a USD10.4 billion deficit with the U.S. in February, narrowing from USD21.4 billion in January, but U.S. statistics usually differ. China could use the February trade data to bolster its case that it was not manipulating its currency to gain a trade surplus.
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