Photo: VCG

China's export and import growth beat expectations in the first two months of the year, customs data showed on Monday, underpinning hopes for the economy to defy gravity across the globe amid rising uncertainty.

Chinese US dollar-denominated exports rallied 16.3 percent year-on-year in January-February to $544.7 billion, while imports rose by 15.5 percent to $428.75 billion, both exceeding market estimates. The country's trade surplus spiked 19.5 percent to $115.95 billion.

Trade growth for its entirety grew by 15.9 percent during the first two months from the year before, according to customs data.

In yuan terms, the country's exports were up 13.6 percent year-on-year in January-February, while its imports jumped 12.9 percent. Its exports and imports posted a 13.3 percent growth to 6.2 trillion yuan.

According to a breakdown of the trade data in yuan terms, the EU was China's top trading partner during the first two months of 2022, with bilateral exports and imports up 12.4 percent to 874.64 billion yuan ($138.34 billion), accounting for 14.1 percent of the country's total trade. 

China's trade with the ASEAN members increased by 10.5 percent to 870.47 billion yuan. 

This suggests that the EU temporarily regained its position as China's top trading partner.

The ASEAN bloc overtook the EU as China's largest goods trade partner in 2020 and retained its top place last year.

China-US trade increased 9.7 percent to 785.92 billion yuan, with China's exports to the US up 11.1 percent while imports from the US grew 5.8 percent. 

The country's exports and imports to countries and regions across the  Belt and Road Initiative, according to customs data, also gained 18.3 percent to 1.92 trillion yuan during the period. 

The private sector was shown to be playing a more prominent part in China's trade, with their exports and imports up 16.1 percent to 2.99 trillion yuan during the first two months, or 48.2 percent of the total trade data, an uptick of 1.1 percentage points from the prior year.

Among the most-watched items are soybean imports which totaled 13.94 million tons, up 4.1 percent year-on-year, and rare-earth exports which rose by 10.9 percent to 7,835 tons.

The stronger-than-expected trade data came after the full-year GDP growth target was revealed to be around 5.5 percent on Saturday when the government work report was delivered during the opening of the country's annual legislative session.

The 5.5 percent growth target outran market expectations as policymakers prioritize stability while pursing progress.

Global Times