China saw sustained and stable improvement in its foreign trade in August, with exports maintaining a strong growth rate of 11.6 percent year-on-year, powered by recovering domestic demand and the reopening of more overseas economies in the past month

China's foreign trade reached 2.88 trillion yuan ($421.69 billion) in August, up 6 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released on Monday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC). 

Among which, exports totaled 1.65 trillion yuan, up 11.6 percent, but imports dropped, decreasing by 0.5 percent. Economists have predicted this could edge back into growth in August.

The surge in exports also indicates a second month of gains since July, as China's exports showed a surprising surge of 10.4 percent year-on-year, despite lingering external risks and overseas demand still largely hampered by the pandemic.

Analysts said the strong gains were expected, as more of China's trading partners eased lockdowns, and a series of stimulus measures from the central government also supported the growth.

Graphic: GT

 
Europe and the US also reopened various sectors of their economy earlier than expected, partially contributing to the rise in Chinese exports, said Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the Ministry of Commerce.

"However, certain countries' protectionist restrictions on exports to China, along with a number of countries' limited supply due to the continued suspension of manufacturing lead to a drop in Chinese imports," he added.

The high growth in China's exports also comes as a result of the steady recovery of the country's manufacturing sector. Results of a private survey conducted last week showed China's manufacturing activity expanding in August at the fastest pace in nearly a decade.

Bai told the Global Times that China may ramp up efforts to stabilize foreign trade during the rest of the year through focusing on free trade zones and stabilizing foreign capital.

During the ongoing 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services, Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing, said that the capital will accelerate the creation of a pilot 'free-trade zone' for scientific and technological innovation, to aid the opening-up of the services sector and digital economy.

Total foreign trade in the first eight months of 2020 was 20.05 trillion yuan, down 0.6 percent from the previous year. While exports have already edged back to growth thanks to the solid momentum of July and August - from January to August, China's exports were up by 0.8 percent year-on-year.

China's foreign trade with ASEAN, the EU and Japan increased from January to August, while trade with the US declined. ASEAN, the EU and the US are China's top three trading partners.

ASEAN remained China's biggest trading partner, with a trade value of 2.93 trillion yuan in the first eight months, up 7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 14.6 percent of China's total foreign trade. China's trade with the EU was 2.81 trillion yuan, up 1.4 percent and accounting for 14 percent of China's total foreign trade. 

China-US trade sank 0.4 percent to 2.42 trillion yuan, a 12.1 percent share of China's foreign trade.

Global Times