China's export growth in August came in at 25 percent, matching market expectations.
China's General Administration of Customs said Tuesday that exports in August rose 25.0 percent from a year earlier to $401.44 billion.
That marked an acceleration from July's 23.9 percent growth and matched market expectations. Reuters had earlier forecast export growth of 25.0 percent for the month.
China's imports in August grew 28.2 percent from a year earlier to $282.36 billion, falling short of the market's forecast of 30.0 percent growth.
China's trade surplus for August came to $119.09 billion. The cumulative trade surplus from January through August reached $805.51 billion.
China's exports to the US climbed 34.4 percent from a year earlier to $42.48 billion in August, while imports from the US rose 17.8 percent to $13.29 billion.
China's exports to South Korea in August jumped 49.3 percent from a year earlier to $18.01 billion, while imports from South Korea surged 108.1 percent to $32.16 billion.
Cumulative trade between China and the US from January through August grew 30.0 percent from a year earlier. Over the same period, trade between China and South Korea jumped 82.3 percent.
China's rare earth exports in August totaled 4,735.1 tons, up 12.1 percent from July, with export value rising 42.1 percent to $73.5 million. Cumulative exports from January through August fell 11.1 percent from the same period last year to 39,441.4 tons, even as cumulative export value rose 53.5 percent.
China's crude oil imports in August rose 6.2 percent from July to 37.928 million tons. Despite the slight month-on-month increase, imports were down 23.4 percent from August last year, before the outbreak of the war in Iran. Cumulative imports from January through August fell 14.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. The figures suggest China sharply cut oil imports to weather a supply crunch as the war sent global oil prices soaring and threatened crude supply chains.
kate01@heraldcorp.com
