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China exceeded market expectations with a larger-than-expected trade surplus of US$31.69 billion for September, official data released on Friday showed.
September’s numbers were higher than August’s surplus of US$27.89 billion. Experts in a Reuters poll had forecast a US$19.4 billion trade surplus for the month.
China’s trade with the United States (US) logged a surplus of US$34.13 billion, more than the US$31.05 billion in August.
China’s exports for the month rose 14.5% year-on-year, much higher than August’s 9.8% increase, data from the Chinese customs showed. Experts had expected an 8.9% increase.
Meanwhile, imports were up by 14.3%, moderating from the 19.9% increase in August and lower than analysts’ forecast of a 15% increase.
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund had downgraded its global economic growth predictions for this year and next year, pointing out that the trade war between the two largest economies - the US and China - is taking a toll on global growth.
But the IMF said that the trade war escalation is likely to hit China harder than the US, and shaved the growth prediction for China next year to 6.2%, which will make it the slowest growth rate since 1990.
At 12pm, Singapore time, the Chinese Yuan was trading at 6.90 against the greenback.