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China exports see surprise jump despite power crunch

AFP . Beijing
14 Oct 2021 00:00:00 | Update: 14 Oct 2021 01:26:03
China exports see surprise jump despite power crunch

China’s exports rose unexpectedly in September, official data showed Wednesday, but analysts warned of a looming hit from the country’s power crunch that has disrupted supply.

The data came after a sharp jump in trade in the world’s second largest economy in August, suggesting that overseas demand for consumer goods had surged as a domestic virus outbreak was brought to heel.

But last month many factories were forced to halt operations owing to power outages caused by emission reduction targets, the surging price of coal and supply shortages -- raising concern about global supply chains.

Yet, exports rose a better-than-expected 28.1 percent on-year in September, according to customs authorities -- up from 25.6 percent in August.

This was a new monthly record of $305.7 billion.

“Although power rationing doesn’t appear to have derailed the export sector so far... it could do so in the coming weeks,” cautioned Capital Economics’ senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard.

However, imports missed predictions and rose 17.6 percent, just over half as much as the previous month’s increase.

With a number of Asian countries badly hit by the Delta variant of Covid-19, OCBC Bank’s Tommy Xie, noted that orders were shifting back to China.

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